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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23992342">Veritas Vos Liberabit</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angela_Addams/pseuds/Angela_Addams'>Angela_Addams</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Veritas [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action/Adventure, Anal Sex, Angry Ginny Weasley, Aurors, Bigotry &amp; Prejudice, Blow Jobs, Bottom Harry Potter, Courtroom Drama, Depressed Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy Needs a Hug, Drunk Harry Potter, Drunken Shenanigans, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Gay Sirius Black, Good Slytherins, Hand Jobs, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Harry Potter is a Little Shit, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Legilimency, Loss of Parent(s), Loss of Virginity, M/M, Memory Alteration, Mildly Dubious Consent, Murder Mystery, Mutual Pining, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Post-War, Slow Burn, Snark, Substance Abuse, Switching, Top Draco Malfoy, Trials, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 20:54:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>77,717</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23992342</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angela_Addams/pseuds/Angela_Addams</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After the war Draco Malfoy finds himself at the crossroads. He tries not to become a scapegoat for the overzealous DMLE, fulfill his duties as a Malfoy heir and struggles with his potion addiction.<br/>And all this mess is because of Harry Potter, who cannot just let things be as they are, who wants to help and ends up stirring a doxies nest of problems.<br/>Potter employs a legillimens, Elise Baelish, to help Draco win the trials. And, before you know it, their unofficial 8th year at Hogwarts turns into a dangerous game with rogue Death Eaters who still seek vengeance and the corruption within the Ministry of Magic.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Veritas [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2065983</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>186</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Let's Get That Cuppa</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The dim light was passing through the cracks in the door to the interrogation room number 7-26, where a person sat almost motionlessly in the uncomfortable wooden chair. The metal shackles were attached to the skinny wrists. And another person, a woman clad in the crimson Auror robes was hovering over a man, no, a boy, bound to the seat. The boy was tall and looked exhausted and slightly malnourished. Blonde hair was falling into his eyes and he nervously shook his head trying to see the woman properly.</p>
<p>Auror Baelish was an expert legilimens, sent for in the occasion when the Veritaserum was just not an option anymore. She had interrogated rustles murderers, potion smugglers, and all sorts of dirty crooks who had developed an immunity to the truth serum, but never a child. Obviously, the case file stated that the boy in front of her was of age and had received the Mark. But in here he looked so young and vulnerable, he almost reminded her of her little brother.</p>
<p>"Alright, Draco... That's your name, innit," she started, tucking her hair behind her ear and sighing in exasperation, "I've heard you are quite good at Occlumency. But since you've lost your wand and have an impressive list of charges against you, you might as well stop struggling and just give in. It would be easier for us both."</p>
<p>The boy was silent, trying to twist his shackled wrists into a more comfortable position. He stared at her with a vacant look in his eyes, she had seen only when one was concentrating on blocking one's mind from the intrusion.</p>
<p>"Oh well, you leave me no choice, really," Baelish said lifting her wand. Robarts had warned her that Malfoys were extremely protective of each other and whatever information they possessed that might incriminate them. But it was incredible how long he could withstand her attempts at penetrating his mind.</p>
<p><em>He lived there, in their house.</em> She reminded herself bitterly, Elise Baeilish was certainly no match for the Dark Lord in her abilities. However, maybe if she could talk to the boy, make him understand, he would give in just this once.</p>
<p>"Listen...", she exhaled, lowering her wand and propping herself onto the chair opposite from him, "I know you have a lot to hide from me, all things considered... but you're not going to help yourself nor your mother for that matter. She seemed rather fond of you when I talked to her."</p>
<p>Malfoy let out a bitter laugh and continued to stare at her unperturbed.</p>
<p>"And Mister Potter, as I recall, had agreed to speak on your behalf, both of you... but we need your testimony, your side of the story," Elise studied the boy's face for a moment. His concentration seemed to waver just the slightest bit when she mentioned the Boy Who Lived. So she decided to press on that some more.</p>
<p>"You were classmates at Hogwarts, weren't you? Different houses, I assume, but you've known each other. Potter said you helped them. What happened that day? You were at the Manor, for holidays, weren't you? And you did not recognize him, Mister Potter, even though you knew who it was. Why didn't you? What stopped you? You knew he would hurt your family after that?"</p>
<p>That had almost done it, she managed to see a glimpse of a memory just then. A red hot shock of the Cruciatus curse and Draco Malfoy writhing in pain on the floor of the well-furnished drawing-room. He seemed to be staring at the grand piano in the corner, concentrating on the black and white keys as his body convulsed in agony once more.</p>
<p>"Did you use to play?" Elize said, musing at the recollection."I picked up the violin when I was in primary school. Back when I thought I was just an ordinary muggle."</p>
<p>His eyes widened in disbelief. He was looking at her with curiosity and not hostility that she had expected from a pureblood wizard.</p>
<p>"Ah yes, a mudblood legilimens, and a Slytherin, I might add," she snickered at his gobsmacked expression, "I guess the old hat was truly bonkers when it sorted me. But here we are."</p>
<p>"It knows..." he whispered, his voice hoarse.</p>
<p>"Oh, you can actually speak for once," she smiled almost gently. A fellow Slytherin on the other side of the law, she found these instances ironic.</p>
<p>"So tell me, Draco, why would you let go of your house's motto and do something so foolishly Griffindorish?"</p>
<p>"I had no choice..." the boy said simply, he finally broke the eye contact and looked down at his cuffed wrists.</p>
<p>"You clearly had one, didn't you? You could have given them all up to the Dark Lord and then your family would have been safe... forgiven."</p>
<p>"You know that's a load of rubbish," he smirked, he looked almost amused by her comments.</p>
<p>Another jolt of memories rushed into her mind. She didn't even use the spell this time. He was letting her see it, the incriminating truth.</p>
<p>She saw Hogwarts... a bathroom floor drenched in water and someone's blood... a boy, pale as a ghost. Crimson streaks slashed over his chest... and another boy, Potter, crouching next to him, his terrified eyes so big behind the round spectacles.</p>
<p>"He hurt you!" she exclaimed, "And yet you refused to tell your parents and your aunt it was him, that day at the manor. Why? Wouldn't you want revenge?"</p>
<p>Draco shook his head, a crooked smile on his lips. She decided to press on some more. Something she had said before made him trust her enough to let her see.That is why she wouldn't let go of the opportunity to finish off a bit earlier today if it all went well enough.</p>
<p>"You're tired... you want to go to the pub afterward," the boy commented. Elize guessed she wasn't the only one using legilimency today.</p>
<p><em>That brat,</em> she huffed, concentrating on protecting her mind better.</p>
<p>"I guess I am," she mused."So be a champ and let me see the truth, alright? So we both can enjoy our evenings."</p>
<p>"I won't be enjoying mine," Malfoy drawled.</p>
<p>"You could... I can ask them to bring you a cuppa here... You're not allowed anything stronger, I am afraid."</p>
<p>Another flash of colour.... a porcelain cup in his hand, the tea leaves at the bottom are showing the sign of Aries... strong emotion, fire. He looks to the right and sees the unruly mop of dark hair, a smile that briefly lights his face until it turns into a scowl at the sight of another boy looking at him.</p>
<p>"You... oh, you cheeky little," she winked at the exasperated lad in front of her, he was getting more and more flustered at her amusement.</p>
<p>She was trained to pick up subtle hints in the memories. Something, that one might think to be insignificant, could lead her to what she needed to know. And now she knew for sure that Malfoy brat and Potter weren't just classmates or schoolyard rivals.</p>
<p>"Aries... well, well. You didn't know what it meant back then, did you?" she continued, knowing she had finally found the weak spot. "The fire... He saved you didn't he, from the fiendfyre. Mr. Potter said you owed him a life debt. That must have been it. And a strong emotion... we both know what it means..."</p>
<p>The boy winced like he had been slapped. And a rush of memories flooded her consciousness.</p>
<p>...There they are on a quidditch pitch, flying on brooms and chasing after a golden snitch. There is a dressing room, a sneaky glance at the skinny back with visible bruises from the bludger... A flash of anger as he sees a dark-haired boy hugging a freckled girl, bending down to kiss her, tucking the ginger lock behind her ear.</p>
<p>...He glances back and finds that same boy following him in the school corridors, looking at him as he eats in the Great Hall, staring at his notes in class...</p>
<p>...He sees that same boy there in front of him, his face swollen and almost unrecognizable, but it's <em>him </em>. He has looked at this hair and these hands and this neck and this jawline long and often enough to know that it's definitely him. A wave of relief passes through him and he realizes that Potter is, indeed, alive.</p>
<p>...<em>I cannot be sure...</em> He says, schooling his features, trying his best to free his mind of any thoughts connected to him in case aunt Bella would try to use legilimency again. She knew already he was bent... <em>Pathetic... </em>she spat once she saw into his mind. He didn't let her see who it was he had fantasized about but she knew it was a boy...</p>
<p>...There is a struggle, and he sees Potter prying a bunch of wands off his hands, and he lets him... he simply relaxes his grip and lets him escape, armed, with his very wand...</p>
<p>... The white piano keys... they look like teeth of some bizarre animal... He remembers a white school shirt that slides over the bruised back in the changing room after the quidditch match. He managed to sneak a glance and he is thrilled and ashamed at once... He brags about seeing a Gryffindor chaser's cleavage to unimpressed Zabini... <em>We all know you were trying to see Potter's cock, </em>he barks a laugh and shoves him with his shoulder playfully...</p>
<p>Elize suddenly pulled away. It felt like emerging from a long dive underwater. She propped her elbows on the table, studying the kid in front of her. He was trembling: red spots on his cheeks and ears, two streams of tears running down his face, his lower lip pouting.</p>
<p>He was just a child, and he had been just a child back then when all the incriminating activities happened. All these things that would land him in Azkaban for a very long time. She knew that even with all the compelling evidence in the world and all the Saviours of the wizarding world behind him, he wouldn't stand a chance without the whole truth. All the shameful feelings and teenage fantasies laid bare for scrutiny of the old and disgusted honorable witches and wizards of Wizengamot. And she knew that it was her job to unearth all of this from his psyche.</p>
<p><em>Poor sod,</em> she thought fondly. Auror Baelish unhooked her crimson robes, putting them down on the back of the chair. It would take a while. And she would certainly miss her pub quiz night with her colleagues, so she might as well make herself comfortable.</p>
<p>"Draco Malfoy... The pureblood Slytherin, and the only child in his family... is smitten with Harry Potter?! You are lucky I don't work for the papers. I think it's time we got that cuppa and you can tell me all about it."</p>
<p>She smiled gleefully at the mortified expression on the pale face before her. If it was going to be a long evening she might as well enjoy it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Ogden's Finest</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here is one more chapter for you all.<br/>If you have any comments or suggestions I am happy to read them. It looks like it is going to be a longish story, so I hope you stay until the end :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Blimey, Harry! How did you manage to make this house even more unlivable?” asked Ron incredulously, stepping out of the fireplace and onto the sheet of plastic that was covering the floor in the living room of Number 12 Grimmauld place.<br/><br/>
He was surrounded by the disarray that reconstruction of the house entailed, there were heaps of rubbish in the corners, old wallpaper hanging from the walls like loose skin and there were too many muggle supplies: buckets of paint, wood planks and electric tools in the bright orange cases. Whatever the late Walburga Black imagined the freaks and mudbloods had done to the house, it was way worse.<br/><br/>
“In here!” bellowed Harry from another room, he was in the middle of a conversation with the muggle contractor, who was gesturing wildly and showing something on the floor plan. He himself was covered in paint and dust and wood shavings and wearing ghastly muggle jean overalls.<br/>
<br/>
“Can’t you hire someone… else” Ron finished lamely when he noticed a curious look the muggle was giving him.<br/>
<br/>
“And risk people finding out about this place? Ronald, you must be joking!” he heard another brisk voice coming from the hall and in a moment Hermione Granger ran into the living room, she carefully hugged her boyfriend, trying not to leave any paint on his robes.<br/>
<br/>
“You guys are mental! It has been three weeks already and the more I look at it the further it is from being done!” sighed the ginger, returning the hug.<br/>
<br/>
“You have no idea how much work we have actually done,” said Hermione, and she went on to ponder over the blueprints with the muggle, chattering away about measurements and budget and electrical wiring.<br/>
<br/>
Harry finally was able to greet his friend, he peeled away the plastic covering from the sofa and gestured to some muggle soda cans on the coffee table.<br/>
<br/>
“Sorry, Ron, no butterbeer… Only cola”<br/>
<br/>
“It all looks like my dad’s wet dream, a bit surreal” exhaled Weasley, he sniffed the muggle drink suspiciously then shrugged his shoulders and took a tentative sip from the can.<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t tell me you’ve never tried cola before,” Harry elbowed him playfully.<br/>
<br/>
You know mum and junk food… How’s old Mistress Black with all these muggles out and about the house?”<br/>
<br/>
“She is in the attic. Had to demolish the wall to take her down,” Harry shook his head.<br/>
<br/>
Despite it being the middle of summer, he still looked sickly and pale, almost no sun had touched his skin, his eyes looked a bit wild and glossy, framed by dark circles. He had spent almost all June trying to purge old Black estate of its mold and junk and dark artifacts. With Kreacher working in Hogwarts’ kitchens, and the place being under a Fidelius charm, Harry had no choice but to employ a muggle construction company. Most of the suspicious objects and pieces of furniture that would have been an outrageous breach of The Statute of Secrecy were safely stored in the attic or under layers of plastic protectors.<br/>
<br/>
The worst part was trying to convince the poor workers that the house that wasn’t on any of the city plans suddenly existed and was in dire need of repairs. Hermione had spent most of her time taking down muggle repelling charms and booby traps set by the Order back when they were trying to protect the house from Snape and the lot. It didn’t go according to their plan, of course, the building just wasn’t visible to muggles so the first couple of weeks they had to climb through a hole in the wall between house number 12 and number 13, where Mrs. Black’s painting resided before.<br/>
<br/>
Harry would take casting multiple Confunduses at next-door neighbors any day to being swarmed by the press had someone known where the Savior of the wizarding world actually lived.<br/>
<br/>
“Mate, you need to finish soon,” said Ron eventually, “The portkey to Australia is on Monday, so ‘Mione and I had better start packing already. Mum is going to be barmy as it is with Fleur being pregnant and us leaving.”<br/>
<br/>
“I know Ron… I just need to look for the cellars. The construction company should be done this weekend.” although Harry understood Hermione’s need to reconnect with her Obliviated parents, he felt as though everyone was leaving him this summer.<br/>
<br/>
He had started this meaningless project only to stay together with his friends and stop bloody thinking about the events that happened this May. They had lost so much and so many people died because of him.<br/>
<br/>
He almost got used to the dull pain he always felt in his chest every time he walked around this house and reminded himself of Sirius, pranks that Fred and George pulled, and the members the Order. The overwhelming guilt was his familiar companion and somehow this foggy feeling had become the new norm for Harry these days.<br/>
<br/>
“Ginny’s leaving too,” said Ron cautiously. “She was scouted by the Holyhead Harpies and will take part in the tryouts next week. And with you and your charity case now… Well, you know how she feels about the git.”<br/>
<br/>
Ah yes, Malfoy… Harry had hoped that his schoolyard rival wouldn’t be mentioned at least today. But no such luck, every time he was trying his best to be absorbed by the monotonous work of painting the door frames or gluing the wallpaper he was rudely reminded of Malfoy. Ginny would come over a couple of times, guns blazing, waving a copy of “The Daily Prophet” in front of his face, trying her damned best to dissuade Harry of speaking at the Malfoys’ trials. At times like that he wished he had found that secret Black’s wine cellar that was hiding somewhere in the house, so he could at least numb the headache with something other than muggle fizzy drinks. She just couldn’t understand why it was so important for him.<br/>
<br/>
Sometimes Harry couldn’t get it either. Hermione said that he should visit a Mind Healer before getting involved yet again in the ex-Death Eater business. But Harry just wasn’t able to bring himself to go, and after “The Prophet” had started publishing one outrageous article after another, he wasn’t sure there would be a person he could trust in the first place. That’s why despite all the arguments he had with Ginny and all the lectures Hermione had given him while simultaneously trying to mask the woodwork on the walls, he still felt obliged to be there, to speak on their behalf.<br/>
<br/>
He couldn’t care less what would happen to Malfoy senior but somehow knowing that Draco or his mother could end up in Azkaban after everything that they’d gone through just wasn’t fair. Harry unsuccessfully tried to convey this message to Ginny a couple of times and ended up drowning his sorrows at the Leaky Cauldron into the small hours. One day he came home only to find the empty chest of drawers and an angry note on the kitchen table. He simply turned around and headed back outside and sat on the bench in the muggle park until the sunset. Thus, his teenage romance had ended in bitterness and tears and constant misunderstandings and relentless headache. That was another of Harry’s familiar companions.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry, we’re going to pop out to the curry place for a bit, do you need anything?” called Hermione.<br/>
<br/>
“No, I am fine,” he said thinking bitterly about Ginny and his best friends leaving him all alone in this house.<br/>
<br/>
Harry glanced into the drawing-room making sure that the muggle worker didn’t get into any trouble and wandered upstairs to the library. The books there were mostly old Black heirlooms, many of them cursed and seeping with dark magic. However, his eyes wandered toward a small leather-bound book on the second shelf to the left. It was oddly out of place there and it looked like it had been touched more often than the others. He thoughtlessly reached out to touch it and barely put his index finger on the spine of the book, when the shelves moved to the side, uncovering a secret passage.<br/>
<br/>
<em>The cellars</em>, Harry thought triumphantly. He took out his wand and checked for any protective spells that might have been placed there. Everything seemed fine, so he lit the end of his wand and stepped inside. The walls were narrow and the ceiling was dangerously low, the passage must have been made for the house-elf. Harry felt a bit claustrophobic, almost crouching down to pass through. Finally, he was inside a rotund chamber, lined with rows upon rows of dusty bottles and oak barrels. It was like discovering a vault in Gringotts but instead of gold it was liquor.<br/>
<br/>
He smiled to himself and studied the labels of the bottles closest to him. There was goblin made wine and the rarest single malt firewhiskey and some concoctions he dared not to even touch. But he found what he was looking for, an authentic bottle of Ogden’s 1945. He felt giddy and nervous at the same time; if Hermione found out that he was drinking again, he wouldn’t hear the end of it. Ron and her would even postpone their trip to Australia to stage an intervention of some sort. He hid the bottle in the pocket of his overalls, hoping to stash it somewhere safe for later consumption.<br/>
<br/>
Harry emerged from the cellar, cautiously moving the bookshelf back in its place and hope that the muggle didn’t go wandering around the estate. Luckily, Hermione and Ron had already returned, the spicy smell of curry lingering in the living room.<br/>
<br/>
“Mind if I steal your nan?” asked Harry, chewing on a buttery piece of bread already.<br/>
<br/>
“What’ve you got in your pocket?” asked Hermione suspiciously.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh… erm, the solution for the floor varnish?” he replied lamely.<br/>
<br/>
“Didn’t know Ogden started making floor varnish now…” said the girl, unamused. “Alright. Hand it over!”<br/>
<br/>
Harry cursed under his breath and gave his insufferable best friend the firewhiskey.<br/>
<br/>
<em>At least there’s more where it came from</em>, he thought darkly.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Lipton Yellow Label and No Sympathy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here is a short one, I might edit it to be a combination of two chapters a bit later.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>That tastes vile</em>, he thought, twirling a bright yellow label from a muggle teabag in his fingers. The Auror that was sitting across from him smirked understandingly but continued to drink her tea from a crimson mug with a golden letter M on it.<br/>
<br/>
It had been the third day in a row that they met in this very interrogation room and Draco had a splitting headache almost every time those brown eyes drilled into him demanding the truth. He was embarrassed at first, this girl looked like a complete rookie, she was breaking protocol, smuggling tea and biscuits for her suspect and talking too keenly to a Death Eater scum that he was. Something in her demeanor reminded him of Potter, and that was very unnerving since it felt like it was him Draco was confessing to.<br/>
<br/>
<em>Maybe this is how people, raised by muggles, act all the time</em>, he contemplated as Elise Baelish was rummaging through her messenger bag, looking for an important piece of evidence.<br/>
<br/>
“Ah, gotcha. So let’s continue, shall we?” she smiled maliciously and repeated the spell.<br/>
<br/>
In these moments Draco understood why she had been sorted into Slytherin, Auror Baelish was as rustles as Pansy could be when she needed a piece of information from him. Only he couldn’t brush this girl off that easily, the legilimency spell was prickling his mind already, and he felt as though dementors were there in this chamber, waiting to take him to Azkaban.<br/>
<br/>
“We have an eyewitness statement, that suggests you did not kill Albus Dumbledore. What can you say about this?” Baelish was relentless.<br/>
<br/>
“Shouldn’t you be mind-raping your eyewitness then, instead of me.” gritted Draco through clenched teeth. He felt dizzy and nauseous and completely drained, their little tea-break didn’t help one bit.<br/>
<br/>
“We have a memory from the said eyewitness. I need you to corroborate their statement”<br/>
<br/>
“This is ridiculous!” Draco tried to lift his hand to clench his hair but the shackles were once again on his wrists, so he lowered them grimly. “If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought you were trying to help me! Were you bribed? Was it one of my Father’s associates?!”<br/>
<br/>
“Lucius Malfoy must be completely delusional if he thinks any of his associates would try to help him now…” the Auror laughed.<br/>
<br/>
Then why… He was once again feeling like somebody was drinking his mind through a straw, his memories were pouring out involuntarily at the skillful flick of her wand. It felt almost pleasant, to be once again enveloped by his feelings, emotions, to experience fear, anger, lust, despair once again instead of complete numbness he felt these days.<br/>
<br/>
<em>... You’re not a killer, Draco…</em><br/>
<br/>
He was dry heaving, once again Draco was pulled back to that night, the night of his failure. He shut his eyes, trying to stop the shameful tears from spilling, trying not to vomit his tea and biscuits, trying to keep some semblance of self-restraint.<br/>
<br/>
“Listen,” Baelish said after a while. “I think you might want to know why I even work for the ministry… It’s because of Albus Dumbledore and a disaster that happened with Sirius Black. When the Dark Lord first came to power, many of his followers and those who opposed him were trying to become immune to Veritaserum. Purebloods like Black were more skilled in Occlumency due to natural inclinations, and thus were more likely to fight the potion, so of course, nobody would even bother giving him the serum. If they had, they’d known he was innocent. I moved across the Pond to study legilimency and Dumbledore persuaded a good portion of Wizengamot to employ a mind-reader into their due process protocols. So that a pureblood ponce like you might have a fighting chance.”<br/>
<br/>
He shook his head and laughed almost madly, “So I must be grateful I wasn’t the one who killed your dear departed mentor!?”<br/>
<br/>
“That wasn’t that hard now, was it?” the grin on her face was carnivorous, “Now let me see some more…”</p><p>* * *<br/>
<br/>
“Harry James Potter!” the log that was cracking lazily in the fireplace seemed to be very angry for some reason.<br/>
<br/>
Harry pulled himself up from the sofa, it wasn’t covered by plastic anymore, thank Merlin for small mercies. The room was swimming in front of him, and he tried to put on his spectacles. That didn’t help much. His head was buzzing, his tongue felt like he was licking that troll foot umbrella stand in the hallway and his back was very sore from lying on the sofa in a drunken slumber.<br/>
<br/>
“Shut it, you stupid log…” he mumbled, stumbling towards the fireplace.<br/>
<br/>
“Kingsley sent a howler to my parents’ place in Victoria. My muggle parents’!” the piece of wood sounded suspiciously like Hermione Granger, pissed off Hermione Granger, which was never good.<br/>
<br/>
“What?. What happened?” Harry croaked hoarsely wishing somebody would cast Aguamenti straight into his mouth.<br/>
<br/>
“You are subpoenaed for the preliminary hearing as a witness for the defense!” she started, her face enveloped by the roaring green flames, “The Auror in charge of the case wants to talk with you again. Kingsley didn’t provide any details, he only said that you did not respond to twenty of his owls… Twenty, Harry! Have you got any idea what you’ve gotten yourself into! This is outrageous!”<br/>
<br/>
“ ‘Mione, would you let me breathe for a second!” Harry felt nausea rolling inside his stomach as he was trying to process all that was happening.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh for the love of…. Potter! Get yourself a hangover potion and deal with it! I am done persuading you to get some counseling!” Hermione was definitely in a foul mood, the time difference between Australia and England did not help it either. “You’d told me not to worry about the case, that you would deal with Malfoy. That he is your responsibility. Well take that bloody responsibility! For all we know, the git’s life is at stake!”<br/>
<br/>
<em>Not trying to convince me to drop it now, are you?</em> Harry thought bitterly. He had to admit that Hermione was right, he had fought them long and hard about his statement on behalf of the Slytherin, and at last when even his friends were on board what had Harry done instead?<br/>
<br/>
<em>Drank himself silly.</em><br/>
<br/>
<em>Pathetic… </em> His inner voice sounded suspiciously like Severus Snape.<br/>
<br/>
“Alright! I got it!... Er, when is the meeting?”<br/>
<br/>
“This evening! I think you have at least 2 hours to sober up! You should hurry, the details were supposed to be delivered by the twenty-first owl!” said Hermione and her face disappeared in the flames.<br/>
<br/>
Two hours… Bloody hell!<br/>
<br/>
Harry scrambled to his feet and hurried upstairs toward his room, trying to avoid tumbling down the grand staircase in the number 12 Grimmauld place.<br/>
<br/>
* * *<br/>
<br/>
The place happened to be a muggle coffee shop not far away from his house anyway, Harry had been worrying all the way there if the ministry knew about Grimmauld place, maybe the press would know soon too. He entered a building, rich scent of arabica assaulted his nostrils, whatever they said about Elise Baelish, at least she knew her coffee better than her tea.<br/>
<br/>
She was there, wearing a crimson muggle jacket and a black blouse, and drinking a large cup of something with milk and a lot of syrup.<br/>
<br/>
“Mister Potter, Irish for you, I presume,” she smirked gesturing for him to sit down. “Trying to keep a low profile these days, aren’t you? It was quite a feat trying to reach you… Sir.”<br/>
<br/>
She was obviously mocking his disheveled appearance, he still smelled of hangover potion and muggle toothpaste and some old aftershave he’d found in Sirius’ cabinets when trying to mask his foul odor. It must have been very amusing for the Auror to see The Boy Who Lived in such a sorry state. Well she asked him to be there, she might as well deal with it.<br/>
<br/>
“Let’s get straight to the point,” Harry said irritably. “You wrote that there was some new development on the Malfoy’s case.”<br/>
<br/>
“I am here strictly off the record.” her face was very serious for a moment, “We shall have another official meeting, hopefully, the owl number 22 will reach you in time… But there has been some new information Mister Malfoy generously provided.”<br/>
<br/>
<em>You mean you pulled it out of his mind,</em> thought Harry. He had disliked any legilimens since those disastrous lessons with Snape during his fifth year at Hogwarts.<br/>
<br/>
“My methods might be a bit questionable, but I assure you, Mister Malfoy is not being tortured. At least Malfoy Junior…” Baelish gave him a lopsided grin. “The information, that you might find… peculiar… and unfortunately although it corroborates all the memories you’ve given us...  it also complicates the matter.”<br/>
<br/>
<em>That bloody tosser! Of course,  he would complicate his own case. On top of being a coward and refusing to take the Veritaserum and having a legilimens babysit his sorry arse, he somehow managed to screw up his only ticket to freedom.</em><br/>
<br/>
“As much amusing as it is to listen to your thoughts, Mister Potter. I would prefer we discuss it… with words.” Auror Baelish passed him a small cup of Irish coffee and Harry was grateful for the bit of alcohol in it.<br/>
<br/>
“Alright, what happened?” asked Harry.<br/>
<br/>
“He is… Do you know about section 28 of the muggle law, Mister Potter?”<br/>
<br/>
“No,” he said lamely. <em>Why was she beating around the bush? Were the things Malfoy had remembered so terrible?</em><br/>
<br/>
“Well, the Wizarding law has something similar, to preserve… erm, the continuation of the magical bloodlines. The homosexual relationships and the promotion of such relationships are discouraged.” Auror Baelish said, eyeing him intently.<br/>
<br/>
<em>So Malfoy was a ponce, tell me something new,</em> thought Harry angrily, <em>how is that related to a matter at hand.</em><br/>
<br/>
“It has a very direct connection to this case, Mister Potter. All the actions that would exonerate Mister Malfoy... Draco Malfoy had done because he was infatuated with you…” Elise looked at her drink, trying not to try into his mind.<br/>
<br/>
<em>He did this… Because what… He fancies me? He is in bloody love with me?</em>Harry’s thoughts were spiraling out of control, he suddenly felt like he would need so much more firewhiskey than Black’s cellars could provide.<br/>
<br/>
“I want a meeting with him!” he demanded. “I want to see the … twat…. Him. I want to see him!”<br/>
<br/>
“Visitations for the high profile suspects pending trial are not permitted before the preliminary hearings are over,” she said monotonously, trying to avoid being on the wrong side of Potter’s hex.<br/>
<br/>
“Do you know who I am!” exclaimed Harry, completely losing his temper.<br/>
<br/>
“The Boy Who Lived, the Savior of the Wizarding World, Order of Merlin First class?” she provided, amused once again at his outburst. “I am not the one you should be waving your Order of Merlin in front of.”<br/>
<br/>
“Then who is?” he demanded.<br/>
<br/>
“Now, you are asking the right question, Mister Potter.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I decided to make a not so subtle reference to one of my favorite GoT characters Littlefinger here. I was also trying to plug a plot hole with Sirius and Veritaserum.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. No Memories</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A bit angsty chapter right here.<br/>There is a slight reference to my second favorite HP pairing here.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Draco Malfoy, you will do as I ask or you are one foot in Azkaban! Do you hear me?!” the girl shrieked, making him wince a little.<br/>
<br/>
<em>Potter knew… Potter knew… He bloody knew...</em><br/>
<br/>
This one thought was put on repeat in his mind, and he couldn't shake off the sense of impending doom. The git would probably refuse to speak on his mother’s behalf after this, she would be sent to prison, she would die there.<br/>
<br/>
Draco didn’t care much what would happen to him, he had already given up whatever remains of hope he had left.<br/>
<br/>
“Mister Potter has asked to speak to you in person. You will meet with him and you will behave!” the Auror said in frustration.<br/>
<br/>
Potter wanted to meet him, after everything, after this twat had babbled all the information she ripped out of his memory.<br/>
<br/>
“And what if I don’t want to see him?” Draco spat. He was so tired of everything, he wished somebody would bribe this bint to throttle him already and put the end to his misery.<br/>
<br/>
“I am afraid, you have no say in the matter.” Baelish replied shortly.<br/>
<br/>
<em>Brilliant, just bloody brilliant… </em><br/>
<br/>
Maybe Potter would actually want to smother Draco after all, that would be the least he could do.<br/>
<br/>
* * * </p><p>He stumbled into the attic. It was filled to the brim with all sorts of magical curiosities, old furniture and suspicious objects that would feel right at home at Borgin and Burks. Harry thought of selling some Blacks’ possessions, but he was afraid they would end up in wrong hands.<br/>
<br/>
He veered around the piles of antique rubbish, trying to find what he was looking for. The stash of firewhiskey he moved upstairs in case Hermione found out about the cellars should have been somewhere in there, under one of the lamp covers or in one of the lopsided cupboards. He tripped over something in the dark and fell face down on the dusty floor. Harry groaned in pain. His head felt like an overripe watermelon that was about to burst. It was an old school trunk, not unlike his own, with letters S and B painted in silver.<br/>
<br/>
The Blacks wished Sirius was sorted into Slytherin so much, they’d even gotten him a green and silver school suitcase.<br/>
<br/>
Harry had found a lot of his godfather’s things over the weeks he spent renovating the place, but he saw this old case for the first time. He lit the gaslight as an afterthought and tried to open the trunk. Potter cast all the spells he knew, but the stupid thing would not budge.<br/>
<br/>
He kicked it in frustration and the trunk flew open like it had never been locked in the first place. It was empty. He let out a frustrated laugh. What a letdown. And he naively thought there would be something of value inside. He stood up, shaking dust off his clothes, and then he paused for a moment. There was something inside the trunk, hiding behind the tattered lining. It was an old muggle photo-booth envelope. “Take your photo only for 30p.” it said on the front in washed off blue letters.<br/>
<br/>
Inside Harry saw what he assumed to be photos taken during one of the drunk shenanigans in muggle London. He saw his father, young and disheveled, his spectacles askew and a wide grin on his face. He saw Sirius, long dark hair, leather jacket and a confident smirk, hugging a bottle of muggle whiskey. There was Remus Lupin in an unusual flowery shirt, smiling shyly next to his godfather. But the next strip of photos made Harry’s hands shake.<br/>
<br/>
There they were: his young godfather and the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher kissing passionately captured by a grainy muggle camera.<br/>
<br/>
<em>Sirius Black, the person he admired, the person he wanted to be more like, was a bloody poof… </em></p><p>Harry did not remember this neighborhood, he only knew that he ran out of the house like he did after a particularly nasty fight with Ginny, and wandered off somewhere. There were drunk muggle teenagers walking around, spilling beer on the pavement and laughing. He wanted a drink himself, he wanted that dull pain, which felt suspiciously like betrayal to go away. First Malfoy and now Sirius... How could he not mention it to him. Harry realized that he might not have known his godfather at all. The only thing he saw was an idealized version his thirteen-year old self had conjured in his mind.<br/>
<br/>
He wanted to crawl into a ball and cry, he knew what exactly muggles thought of people like that. Uncle Vernon had a habit of shouting at the TV screen or go on and on about “unnatural freaks” and “they’re after our children” when the news segment about AIDS epidemic was on air. And Harry had heard enough of Gryffindor boys’ dorm room banter to know that the wizarding community was no better. Then how come he felt so conflicted about his godfather? He still missed him so much it hurt, he wanted no more than to talk to Sirius once again. Maybe he would have been able to help him sort out this Malfoy mess.<br/>
<br/>
Harry walked into a muggle pub, sat at the bar and tried not to think about anything anymore. There still was 20 quid in his pocket - plenty enough to get himself properly hammered.<br/>
<br/>
“Hello there, handsome,” Harry heard dangerously close to his ear. He turned around sluggishly, nursing his whiskey on the rocks in one hand.<br/>
<br/>
A tall blonde lad was standing in front of him, dressed provocatively.<br/>
<br/>
“How did you manage to get out of the ministry holding cell, Malfoy?” Harry asked incredulously.<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t know who this Malfoy guy is, but I can assure you, nobody’s holding me anywhere tonight. Unless you want to?” the blonde looked at him suggestively.<br/>
<br/>
“Whaddya mean?”<br/>
<br/>
“You do realize, where you are, peach?” the muggle grinned dangerously.<br/>
<br/>
Harry looked around belatedly noticing rainbow flags on the walls of the establishment and a couple of men sitting too close to each other.<br/>
<br/>
<em>Brilliant, just his luck.</em><br/>
<br/>
He laughed morbidly and took another glance at the blonde. He looked attractive enough, tall, lanky and completely relaxed in this environment.<br/>
<br/>
Harry downed the last of his whiskey in one gulp and turned himself to the blonde, “Ah… what the hell… what do you have in mind?”</p><p>He woke up late. Harry managed to get onto the Knight Bus after a quick drunken groping rendezvous with the blonde muggle. He was too hung over to feel ashamed about what had happened, the only thing he wanted right now is to find another precious vial of hangover potion and not to vomit on the new rug he had purchased for the living room. It was a mystery how he always ended up sleeping on the sofa instead of his bed.<br/>
<br/>
A small barn owl knocked on the window of the number 12, and he knew that he couldn’t just ignore it anymore. He picked up an official looking letter from Auror Baelish stating that his visitation request had been granted.<br/>
<br/>
Now he had no choice but to make himself a bit more presentable and go down to the Ministry.<br/>
<br/>
* * *<br/>
<br/>
Draco could smell whiskey on his breath this morning when the git walked into his holding cell. Auror Baelish was waiting at the door, biting her lip nervously.<br/>
<br/>
“Came to gloat?” he asked irritably.<br/>
<br/>
“Malfoy, you know exactly why I am here, so stop with the bloody bravado and listen for once,” the Gryffindor said tiredly. “I am the primary witness on your case, and you have corroborated every memory I provided. The only thing I need for you is to plea not guilty and let me do the rest.”<br/>
<br/>
“I am not some damsel in distress you have to rescue…” Draco’s voice was quiet and subdued. There was not fire in him anymore, he didn’t care what Potter would do afterwards, he didn’t even have the energy to muster a proper insult.<br/>
<br/>
“I know you’re not... But I need you to plea not guilty nonetheless. You need to state that you were afraid for his family. That you are deeply sorry about your previous beliefs and that you decided to switch sides because of deep compassion to muggleborns.” scarhead wasn’t even looking at Draco when he said all that.<br/>
<br/>
“Do you think they would believe this load of faff about the muggleborns?” Malfoy smirked.<br/>
<br/>
“I asked Luna and Mister Ollivander to provide memories about the conversations you had, while they were at the Manor.”<br/>
Draco was impressed. Even though Potter looked like someone who would spend his free time gallivanting, he didn’t do things half-arsed. He managed to collect enough evidence to get him out. That was almost admirable.<br/>
<br/>
“Auror Baelish will need to modify your memories a bit before the hearing, though. I hope it’s not a problem.” Potter finally met his gaze, he was sorry for him.<br/>
<br/>
“What?! Why?! What the fuck?!” Malfoy exclaimed turning to guilty looking Elise.<br/>
<br/>
“Nobody needs to know the real reason you did what you did to save our lives…” the Gryffindor was already turning away to leave.<br/>
<br/>
“And you are fucking okay with this?!” Draco shouted at him.<br/>
<br/>
“The chances of you being free are already slim. Don’t make this harder for yourself…” his voice was even and distant.<br/>
<br/>
“I am sorry, kid.” Elise Baelish was next to him. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder and lifted her wand to his temple.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Mercedes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>August was almost over. The sun was shining mercilessly and turning rich landscapes of Wiltshire into a sea of burnt grass and dust. Draco stepped out of a muggle Mercedes onto the pavement in front of the Smith, Smith &amp; Smith Funeral Home. He opened the passenger door and helped his mother out of the car. She was wearing a muggle black dress and a mourning veil on her pillbox hat. Draco adjusted his tie and exhaled nervously, then walked inside the mortuary holding Narcissa's hand.<br/><br/>
“Mr. Malfoy!” a muggle lady at the front desk greeted them. “The flower arrangements were delivered this morning. We will be ready to have the viewing soon”.<br/><br/>
“Thank you,” Draco said courteously.<br/><br/>
It has been almost two weeks since his mother and him were released on probation, Potter had kept his word and the cases did not even go to trial. There was enough evidence presented at the preliminary hearing and the Wizengamot had reluctantly settled off court. They still had to pay the reparations, so the estate in Wiltshire would be auctioned off soon, his mother would have to live in a small apartment issued by the Ministry and do her community service. And he had to go back to Hogwarts to sit his N.E.W.T.S. Draco was to have a meeting with his probation officer scheduled every month. He was not looking forward to it.<br/><br/>
The day the hearing ended and the papers first started publishing smear pieces about the Malfoys getting off scot-free, his father was murdered in the Azkaban holding cell. The Auror claimed self-defense and was not charged. And no wizarding funeral service wanted to assist with the burial, that’s why they found themselves here in muggle part of Wiltshire, wearing muggle clothes and hiring a muggle funeral director.<br/><br/>
<em>My father would start rolling in his coffin if he knew that a muggle embalmer had prepared his body for the viewing,</em> thought Draco grimly.<br/><br/>
“Draco, dear, how are you holding up?” his mother asked gently.<br/><br/>
She always looked so fragile these days, Draco often found her just spacing out in the garden or when she had her tea. Narcissa rarely showed her emotions, but he could tell that Lucius’ death was devastating for her.<br/><br/>
He wasn’t sure how to feel about his father being gone. When he got the news, he didn’t cry, he didn’t feel sadness or anger, he was just numb. Like he had been since his family was captured by the Ministry and brought in for questioning. Draco thought maybe all these Cruciatuses and all these legilimency sessions that he had to endure made some permanent damage to his brain. He felt like there were some things he couldn’t quite recall. He remembered the war, the times that evil bastard resided in the Manor, the Death Eaters, and the torture, but somehow something was still missing. Draco couldn’t put his finger on it. He just knew that there is something he ought to have remembered but it felt like it was covered by fog in his mind.<br/><br/>
“I am… fine, mother.” Draco said. “How can you determine whether your memory had been tampered with?”<br/><br/>
“Do you think there is something wrong, love?” Narcissa asked worriedly.<br/><br/>
“No, nothing…” he shook his head “Let’s go say goodbye to father.”<br/><br/>
A lady wearing black laced shawl came up to them, she was followed by a tall blonde man, who was holding a baby in his arms.<br/><br/>
“Narcissa, we came as soon as we heard,” she said looking at his mother sympathetically. “I couldn’t leave Teddy alone, so Vernon, his babysitter is here as well. I hope you don’t mind?”<br/><br/>
Narcissa’s eyes were brimming with tears, she hugged the lady fiercely, her arms shaking with emotion.<br/><br/>
“Andromeda! My dearest sister, can you ever forgive me?!” she whispered, dabbing her face with the handkerchief.<br/><br/>
<em>So it was the mother’s estranged sister, Andromeda Tonks, and the baby must be that werewolf child.</em><br/><br/>
“Draco, meet your aunt and your little cousin Teddy,” Narcissa said with a smile.<br/><br/>
He greeted the lady, kissing her hand, and came up to the blonde to look at the baby. Little Teddy was wearing a tiny hat, but you could see locks of bright blue hair. A magical child in the muggle funeral home, they must be out of their mind bringing him here.<br/><br/>
“Erm, Vernon Duddley!” the babysitter outstretched his hand in a greeting.<br/><br/>
“Pleasure,” said Draco coldly. Something about this fellow was suspicious, he didn’t look like any babysitter he might have known. He was a bit too young and too poncy for the job.<br/><br/>
“Everything is ready.” the funeral director, Mister Smith, announced and ushered them into the viewing room, decorated lavishly with all sorts of fresh flowers and black ribbons.<br/><br/>
Lucius Malfoy was lying in the coffin and looking surprisingly very much like himself and as though he was merely sleeping. It seemed muggles had their own sort of magic.<br/><br/>
* * *</p>
<p>After everyone said their goodbyes and the pallbearers took his father away, Mr. Smith rolled in a big muggle screen for them to watch. Draco saw his father’s coffin slowly moving into the chamber engulfed in flames. He stared at the fire, completely frozen, his heart suddenly beating so fast and his palms sweating.<br/><br/>
… Draco was in the room of hidden things again, everything was burning... and he couldn’t move…<br/><br/>
He felt dizzy, his head was painfully heavy and there was a knot in his throat that was slowly preventing him from breathing normally.<br/><br/>
“It’s okay…” Draco felt long fingers of the babysitter on his hand, Vernon looked at him with eyes full of worry and compassion.<br/><br/>
His eyes… they were blue for a moment and then something shifted in them, and they became emerald green. Vernon Duddley was not who he seemed. Draco definitely remembered those eyes from somewhere, he just couldn’t shake off that fog in his head for some reason.<br/><br/>
“I think Mister Malfoy needs some fresh air” said the blonde and gently took him by the elbow and walked him outside.<br/><br/>
They were still in the muggle neighborhood, so he couldn’t cast any spell on the man to see if he was actually Pollyjuiced. So Draco just sat on the bench in front of the funeral home and nervously lit a cigarette with a muggle lighter.<br/><br/>
“It happens to me sometimes, as well,” said Duddley sympathetically. “We all have terrible memories of the war.”<br/><br/>
What could he know about the war? That man was probably an Auror or a journalist waiting to take a salacious story of Lucius Malfoy’s muggle funeral to print. How come neither Andromeda nor his mother hadn’t noticed anything off about him. Maybe he had bewitched the poor woman.<br/><br/>
Malfoy huffed and offered a fag. The man refused, looking a bit taken aback.<br/><br/>
“Don’t smoke, huh?”<br/><br/>
“Little Teddy wouldn’t like the smell”, the babysitter answered.<br/><br/>
“Right… so you are telling me that you are really his babysitter and not some twat from the ministry that was sent to spy on us?” Draco asked dangerously, palming his wand in the pocket of his muggle three-piece suit.<br/><br/>
“No… Nothing like that,” the blonde smiled apologetically.<br/><br/>
“Hate to break it to you, Vernon,” Malfoy gritted angrily and grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt. “But your Pollyjuice is showing.”<br/><br/>
Green eyes widened in shock and before Draco could press his wand to the bastard’s throat, he Disapparated.<br/><br/>
* * * </p>
<p>The first meeting with his probation officer was scheduled on the 31st of August, the day before Draco was supposed to board the Hogwarts express. He decided to take a ride in the Mercedes to calm his nerves and get a bit distracted. He couldn’t Apparate anymore, it was one of the conditions, and since the flu network was under surveillance the car was the best option for him to have some sort of privacy. His father had bought it for Christmas in the fifth year of Hogwarts in hopes that one day his son would become a ministry official with a fancy car. The next week the Azkaban break-in had happened and his life had never been the same.<br/><br/>
Draco still remembered aunt Bella laughing madly at the muggle vehicle in the driveway when she came over to visit, prison robes still on her, looking like death herself.<br/><br/>
<em>… Pathetic little ponce… </em>He could still hear her sneering voice in his head when she saw the memory of him snogging one of his French cousins in the backseat of that very Mercedes, while they were practicing Occlumency.<br/><br/>
<em>… Ponce … Right, so  I am not straight</em>, Draco understood suddenly and slammed his foot on the break.<br/><br/>
He was in the middle of nowhere, some road stretched through the countryside when the realization hit him. Somebody’d definitely modified his memory. A moment ago he couldn’t even remember that he preferred men.<br/><br/>
Draco was even more determined to get to London now. He needed to speak to Auror Baelish, that cunt. He was almost certain she had something to do with it.<br/><br/>
* * * <br/><br/>
“I want my memories back!” was the greeting when Elise saw angry-looking Draco Malfoy in her favorite muggle coffee shop.<br/><br/>
“Do you mind taking a seat first?” she offered simply. “Look, Draco, I am sorry that it went like it did, but it just had to be done. If the members of the council had seen your real memories you would most likely be in Azkaban now.”<br/><br/>
“This is tampering with evidence!” he wasn’t giving up. “This is tampering with my fucking brain! You…”<br/><br/>
“Mister Malfoy, this is not the way you should be speaking to your probation officer, is it? Besides this tampering had saved your stupid arse, so I would kindly suggest for you to take a seat and shut your bloody mouth.”<br/><br/>
He huffed, pouting, and nervously flicked his fringe away. She was glad that she’d cast a couple of privacy spells before this shouting match began.<br/><br/>
“I demand them back!”<br/><br/>
“And you will get them. After our meeting… Do you really think I would be putting my memories in the vial in front of a whole coffee-shop of muggles?” Elise was getting more and more irritated with the brat. “So, Draco, how have you been?”<br/><br/>
She had known most of the things he was about to say already. There was his father funeral, the Malfoy Manor was set up for the auction and his Mother was briefly confined to St Mungo’s with a nervous breakdown. Auror Baelish wasn’t the one who easily took pity on anyone, but she felt that poor sod had too much on his plate.<br/><br/>
“Excited about Hogwarts?” Elise asked teasingly when she sat in the passenger seat of a posh black car Malfoy was driving. “Let’s park somewhere discreet, so I can give you back your precious recollections.”<br/><br/>
“About bloody time,” Draco spat, making a sharp turn and pulling into a narrow alley between two houses.<br/><br/>
He didn’t even manage to shut down the engine when a silvery crow appeared in front of them.<br/><br/>
“CODE CRIMSON. ALL AURORS REPORT FOR DUTY!” the Patronus announced in a strict urgent voice of Gawain Robards. They rarely got code crimson anymore. Not after the war.<br/><br/>
“Shit! Draco, I gotta go… Some other time, okay!” Elise quickly got out of the Mercedes.<br/><br/>
“Wait!” he protested, panicing .<br/><br/>
“I’ll meet you at the King's Cross tomorrow, I promise!” she said before disappearing. </p>
<p>Draco waited for her at the platform 9 and three quarters until almost every student boarded the Hogwarts Express. Nobody showed up.<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Poor Draco, I feel for him, but he must suffer a bit for art :) Of course</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Tibi et Igni</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I've updated the last paragraph of the previous chapter for this one to make sense. Go back and check it out before reading.</p>
<p>The literal translation of "Tibi et Igni"  from Latin is "for you and the fire", it usually meant that you should burn it after reading. I think the wizards could benefit from this type of correspondence.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Why is he still standing there?” Harry was looking out of the compartment window on the platform where he noticed blonde Slytherin.<br/>
<br/>
Ron and Hermione joined him and contemplated why Draco Malfoy hadn’t boarded the train yet.<br/>
<br/>
“Maybe, he is waiting for somebody?” Hermione suggested.<br/>
<br/>
“Or he’s scared,” Ron added without remorse.<br/>
<br/>
“Ronald, what have I told you before? Harry thinks it is important to give him a second chance.” the girl looked at him disapprovingly.<br/>
<br/>
The door to the compartment opened, and they saw Ginny standing there, she seemed a bit guilty and was trying not to look Harry in the eye.<br/>
<br/>
“Hey, guys. Mind if I join you?” she asked.<br/>
<br/>
“Of course,” said Hermione and scooted over to give her some space to sit.<br/>
<br/>
Harry was surprised to see Ron’s sister there, he thought she had already signed a contract with the quidditch team and wouldn’t be returning this year. They hadn’t talked at all since that nasty fight back in July, and he was wondering if they would ever be back to normal again. With all the things that had happened this summer it was difficult to predict.<br/>
<br/>
The train moved, and he saw that Draco was walking towards the passage between the platform 9 and ¾. Harry stood up suddenly and ran out of the compartment.<br/>
<br/>
“Where are you going?” he heard his friends shout.<br/>
<br/>
The other students who were standing in the corridor were staring and whispering among each other. Ron popped his head out of the compartment and was gaping at him.<br/>
<br/>
The Gryffindor opened the sliding door of the moving train and cried:<br/>
<br/>
“Malfoy! Get in! Quick!”<br/>
<br/>
Ginny was trying her best to grab Harry’s clothes and drag him away from the opening. The blonde ran up to the train but it was too late, the express was moving at full speed.<br/>
<br/>
“You bloody…” Harry swore and jumped off the train, quickly casting a cushioning charm. He rolled onto gravel, the fall knocking the wind off his lungs. Small rocks ripped his skin. Now he had a big graze from his cheek to his shoulder that started bleeding.<br/>
<br/>
“Are you out of your goddamn mind, Potter?!” he heard an angry voice.<br/>
<br/>
Draco Malfoy was standing over him, breathing laboriously. A heavy suitcase and a cage with a big eagle owl were suspended in the air behind him.<br/>
<br/>
“You… remember me!” Harry exhaled and gave him a strained smile. That was probably the most reckless thing he’d done so far.<br/>
<br/>
“What…” the blonde asked incredulously, then he grabbed Harry’s forearm and hauled him to his feet. “What are you playing at, scarhead?!”<br/>
<br/>
Harry winced, his left shoulder felt very tender, he must have dislocated it when he fell.<br/>
<br/>
“You… were about to miss the train,” he tried to explain.<br/>
<br/>
“And now we both did! I have a car, you tosser, or I could have used the floo network if I needed to. There is no reason to follow a stupid tradition.” spat Malfoy measuring him with his gaze disdainfully.<br/>
<br/>
“Did you… did you meet with Elise?” Harry asked tentatively.<br/>
<br/>
“How do you know about her?... Wait are you somehow involved in all this?” Slytherin’s fingers dug painfully into his injured shoulder, and he shook him a couple of times, demanding the answer.<br/>
<br/>
“I was a witness in your case, remember?” Potter replied giving him a death stare.<br/>
<br/>
“Right… Don’t expect me to glower at your feet for that, Potter.” Malfoy let him go and cast a quick cleaning charm on his bloody palm.<br/>
“Of course…” Harry sighed, “Do you mind helping me a little, I must have dislocated my shoulder a bit.”<br/>
<br/>
“Serves you right, you plonker…” Draco was already walking away.<br/>
<br/>
“Hey… wait! I suppose we can Apparate to Hogsmead!” Potter shouted.<br/>
<br/>
“I can’t…” was a quiet reply. “You know damn well I am not allowed to…”<br/>
<br/>
Harry was about to say something when a shiny black Mercedes-Benz drove out of the bushes on its own.<br/>
<br/>
“Get in!” he heard and limped toward the vehicle.<br/>
<br/>
Malfoy’s car was stylish and expensive, it smelled like leather, luxurious air freshener, and menthol cigarettes. Harry remembered that Slytherin smoked after that fiasco at the funeral. It was the stupidest idea to use hairs of the muggle that he’d gotten off with for the Pollyjuice potion to disguise himself, but he did it nevertheless. He just needed to make sure that Draco and Narcissa were actually free.<br/>
<br/>
Malfoy opened the glove compartment and took out the vial of greenish potion. <em>Dittany.</em><br/>
<br/>
“Hold still”, he ordered and Harry felt like the wounds on his neck and cheek started to pull themselves together.<br/>
<br/>
“I am rubbish at healing charms,” the blonde muttered.<br/>
<br/>
“Thanks,” Harry smiled. He didn’t expect Malfoy to do anything like that, he wondered whether he was able to restore his memory. He blushed involuntarily at the thought.<br/>
<br/>
“So what are we going to do then?”<br/>
<br/>
“We?!” Draco lifted his eyebrow mockingly, “I am going to drive to the ministry and find that bint and you are going to fuck off at the King’s Cross so you can go to your bloody school.”<br/>
<br/>
“You know that you have to attend Hogwarts too, it’s one of the conditions of your probation.” Harry wasn’t giving up.<br/>
<br/>
Malfoy huffed and put his head on the steering wheel tiredly:<br/><br/>
“Tell me, Potter, why the fuck can’t you leave me alone? Whatever I need to do is none of your goddamn business!”<br/>
<br/>
“But…” Harry protested.<br/>
<br/>
“Alright… get out!” the blonde said sternly, “I helped you, so scram, I am sure you can walk now.”<br/>
<br/>
“No!” the Gryffindor said adamantly. He felt a tip of the wand press at his throat at the moment.<br/>
<br/>
“GET OUT” Malfoy said dangerously. “Do you want me to repeat that handy spell you’d used?”<br/>
<br/>
“Fine,” Harry backed away and stepped out of the car, he looked at Draco incredulously.<br/>
<br/>
The engine of the Mercedes sprung to life and in a moment the car was gone, leaving the cloud of dust behind.<br/>
<br/>
Malfoy doesn’t remember anything, concluded Harry. Somehow he felt sad about it. He thought maybe he should have put a tracking spell on the car, in case the blonde was planning something more notorious. But the vehicle was nowhere to be seen.<br/>
<br/>
Harry cast a disillusionment charm on himself and walked towards the platform. He regretted leaving his invisibility cloak inside the trunk, however, most of the people had already left. Potter had belatedly noticed that his shoulder was still dislocated as it ached dully every time he swung his arm. He needed to get to the muggle medical station, and then try to figure out where Malfoy had really gone.<br/>
<br/>
Harry barely stepped out of the passage and into the muggle part of the railway station when somebody cast Finite on his disillusionment charm.<br/>
<br/>
“Halt! DLME!” shouted a tall man in a crimson muggle jacket. His hair was gathered in a rough ponytail. “Auror Williamson! Mister Potter, please lower your wand. I have an urgent message for you.”<br/>
<br/>
* * *<br/>
<br/>
“There is the situation I cannot discuss in the Ministry!” Williamson muttered quietly.<br/>
<br/>
They were sitting in the lobby of Crowne Plaza Hotel, trying to look as inauspicious as they could, given Harry’s roughed-up clothes and a bright crimson jacket on the Auror.<br/>
<br/>
“Auror Baelish did not respond to code crimson last night, and her body was found in the sewer this morning, it looks like she’d been strangled. All her personal belongings as well as her wand were missing. You were among the few people who saw her last.”<br/>
<br/>
Harry’s heart sank. Elise was trying her best to assist him in the case, she shared classified information and even illegally Obliviated Malfoy and now somebody brutally murdered her.<br/>
<br/>
“Was there anyone else? Who saw her last?” he asked.<br/>
<br/>
“You and Mr. Draco Malfoy. There was a probation meeting scheduled for him yesterday evening.” the man replied.<br/>
<br/>
“Malfoy is innocent. I am sure he had nothing to do with it!” Harry protested.<br/>
<br/>
“I wouldn’t be so sure”. Williamson shook his head. “Miss Baelish was cleverly killed in a muggle way. We know that Malfoy has a trace put on him, all his spells are monitored by the probation committee. There is a clear motive - he was interrogated by Baelish and it wasn’t pleasant by any means. Besides Lucius Malfoy has recently deceased because of an Auror. It looks like revenge.”<br/>
<br/>
“But he told me this morning that he was going to see Elise.” Harry couldn’t shake off the feeling that all this was some sort of joke.<br/>
<br/>
“And can you trust Malfoy’s words? You are his guarantor, Mister Potter, I am sure you would understand that he needs to be brought in for questioning. Our sources say he didn’t board Hogwarts express this morning.”<br/>
<br/>
It all looked very suspicious, Draco was reluctant to go on the train and kicked him out of his car. Everything suggested that he murdered Elise quite plausible. But on the other hand, he wasn’t a murderer, Harry had spent half of this summer trying to prove it and now it felt like everything was slipping out of his grasp. He really needed some alcohol to calm his nerves.<br/>
<br/>
Williamson looked around suspiciously and took out a blank envelope out of the inner pocket of his jacket.<br/>
<br/>
“Mr. Potter, this letter is <em>Tibi et Igni </em>, it can show its content responding only to your magical signature. We’re not authorized to open it, however, we implore you to share the message, it can be crucial in finding people responsible for the murder of Auror Baelish”.<br/>
<br/>
Harry took the envelope in his hands and his name appeared on the front, written in a muggle pen. He found that it contained only a small note:<br/>
<br/>
<em>KC 008 0-22-4 </em><br/>
<br/>
He read the letters out loud and the parchment suddenly burst into flames.<br/>
<br/>
“What is it? Some sort of coded message?” Harry asked.<br/>
<br/>
“It looks like it, Mr. Potter. Do you have any idea what that can mean?”<br/>
<br/>
It was too long for a license plate number and too short for a phone number, it had letters too. How was Harry supposed to decipher this mess? He could try to ask Hermione for help. And why was it written in muggle ink?<br/>
<br/>
“Mister Potter, if you believe that Draco Malfoy is innocent you need to act now before he is apprehended.” Auror Williamson urged.<br/>
<br/>
He was right, but Harry only knew what Malfoy had told him, that he was going to the Ministry to find Baelish. <em>The Ministry...</em> He might have been arrested already. Harry said goodbye to the man and went out to send a Patronus to Kingsley and another one to Minerva McGonagall. It seemed that only they were able to save Malfoy from overzealous Aurors.<br/>
<br/>
* * *<br/>
<br/>
Draco Malfoy had just the worst luck in his life. He was almost leaving London, when<br/>
<br/>
he was stopped on the roadblock by muggle police. He thought about casting a little Confunsus and driving away, but the fact that any spell he’d cast would be monitored was gnawing at his conscience. So he sat there, waiting for the muggle to check his license and cursing this day and Potter and all the bloody muggles in the world. He did not expect the policeman to pull out his gun and tell him to step out of the vehicle.<br/>
<br/>
Malfoy lifted his hands, trying to avoid confrontation and slowly left the Mercedes. The cop turned on his walkie-talkie and said something. In a moment two stern-looking men in crimson uniform jackets came over as though they’d just Apparated there.<br/>
“We will take it from here,” said one of them. “DLME! Mister Malfoy, you are under arrest. You are suspected of the murder of Elise Baelish.”<br/>
<br/>
<em>Well, fuck me,</em> Draco thought morbidly.<br/>
<br/>
His hands were handcuffed and his wand was confiscated, and he was led to another dark green car, which he knew belonged to the Ministry for Magic. </p>
<p>“Mister Robards! You cannot arrest my students on their way to school without a proper order!” Minerva McGonagall said hotly. She had just stepped out of the fireplace into the Head Auror office to see Auror Proudfoot, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy there.<br/>
<br/>
“The train hasn’t reached Hogsmead yet and you are already waving your wands!”<br/>
<br/>
“Your student wasn’t on the train!” Robards exclaimed, giving Draco a dirty look.<br/>
<br/>
“Mr. Potter had told me that Draco was supposed to meet his probation officer before he boarded the train, she didn’t show, so naturally he’d missed it.” the headmistress retorted. “Gawain, we have talked about this, and the prejudice that your department has shown towards this boy is appalling!”<br/>
<br/>
“His probation officer was murdered last night!” Robards had the nerve to shout at the woman.<br/>
<br/>
Draco couldn’t believe his eyes: three Gryffindors were having a shouting match over him in this office. He met Potter in the Atrium looking disheveled and ready to Stupefy the Aurors who had brought him at any time. After making quite a scene he managed to persuade them not to drag him to the holding cell and wait for McGonagall here.<br/>
<br/>
“And is there any sufficient evidence to show that it was Draco who did it?” her mouth became one stern line.<br/>
<br/>
“He was the last person to speak with Miss Baelish and his car had registered her magical signature. We also found <em>Tibi et Igni letter</em> on her desk addressed to Draco Malfoy,” exclaimed Head Auror triumphantly.<br/>
<br/>
“What happened to the letter?” Potter asked tentatively.<br/>
<br/>
“It had burst into flames, of course, after we couldn’t open it,” Proudfoot added sheepishly.<br/>
<br/>
“Of course,” Draco muttered barely audible. He couldn’t believe their stupidity -  these kinds of letters were specially designed so that only the receiver could read it.<br/>
<br/>
“We also found traces of Memory Charm on Malfoy, it seems like he was trying to hide something from us!”<br/>
<br/>
The blonde winced. He was pretty sure that Baelish was the one who fucked with his memory and now he was being framed for allegedly killing her.<br/>
<br/>
“It wasn’t Malfoy who cast the Memory Charm. It was me.” Potter admitted. “It is a bit stupid, really. I’d accidentally told him my address and since my place is under the Fidelius Charm I had no choice but to Obliviate him.”<br/>
<br/>
Draco couldn’t fathom that saint Potter would be lying through his teeth to save his nemesis right now. However, the git was involved somehow anyway, so he wasn’t much of a saint after all.<br/>
<br/>
“There are too many coincidences for one person, Mr. Potter. Don’t you agree?” Robards was eyeing the scarhead suspiciously.<br/>
<br/>
“And yet you don’t have enough sufficient evidence to charge Mr. Malfoy,” McGonagall retorted. “Gawain, Mr. Potter, and I act as guarantors of Draco’s probation. If you can prove that he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, we will make sure that he is in custody. In the meantime, Hogwarts is the safest place for him right now. Especially after what had happened to his father. We don’t need any more mistakes like that.”<br/>
<br/>
Robards scratched his bald spot and looked at all three of them.<br/>
<br/>
“Proudfoot! Take off Malfoy’s restraints!” he barked. “We still need his fingerprints for the muggle police. If they find out anything remotely off he will be brought in again.”<br/>
<br/>
“Very well,” McGonagall concluded. “I hope it won’t take much time. I still have to prepare the sorting ceremony and these two need to be in school in time for the feast”.<br/>
<br/>
Head Auror rolled his eyes when the headmistress wasn’t looking, but he made sure that all the paperwork was done as quickly as possible.<br/>
<br/>
* * *<br/>
<br/>
“What have you been thinking, Harry! We were worried sick after that stunt you’d pulled!” was the greeting from Hermione when Harry finally joined the Gryffindor table at the Great Hall.<br/>
<br/>
“Not cool, mate, not cool,” Ron added. “You’ve missed the sorting. And why is your shoulder bandaged?”<br/>
<br/>
“Long story,” Harry smiled apologetically. He didn’t know how he was going to explain to his friends that he had gotten himself involved with Malfoy yet again. It was like the git was a magnet for trouble and Harry was the one who needed to sort it out.<br/>
<br/>
He looked around the Hall, trying to find a familiar blonde head. Malfoy was sitting alone. There was quite some distance between him and the other Slytherins. Harry could bet that whatever rubbish the Prophet had been publishing about him didn’t help the matter.<br/>
<br/>
“Are you alright, Harry?” Ginny asked quietly.<br/>
<br/>
He was grateful that at least she wasn’t giving him grief about it, although, he suspected she wouldn’t be so gentle if she had known what happened.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
Harry had spent most of the evening after the feast retelling the previous events to Ron and Hermione. They were sitting in the Gryffindor common room, guarded by the veil of privacy charms until late at night.<br/>
<br/>
“Do you think he did it?” Ron asked carefully.<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t know, mate.” Harry exhaled.  “He has been through a lot and Elise had put him through hell to get what she wanted, but in the end she did it to get him out. He should be grateful to her. And besides, she had spent days digging through Malfoy’s mind, I don’t think she would’ve let herself be murdered so easily.”<br/>
<br/>
“Please, don’t start obsessing over him again,” his friend pleaded. “I am tired of waking up at night only to see you looking at the Marauders’ Map.”<br/>
<br/>
“I am positive, that he is innocent,” Harry assured.<br/>
<br/>
“What about that Memory Charm, that cannot be good, right? Somebody must have tried to erase some information Malfoy knew,” Hermione added.<br/>
<br/>
Harry looked at her guiltily. He knew that the topic of that debacle would come up sooner or later, and he didn’t know how to safely discuss it with Hermione.<br/>
<br/>
“About that…” Harry started, “I’d asked Elise to modify his memory because it turns out he fancied me a bit, and that’s why he was so reluctant to let me be killed and stuff.”<br/>
<br/>
“He fancied you?!”<br/>
<br/>
“You asked her to erase his memory?!”<br/>
<br/>
“He doesn’t anymore… Malfoy doesn’t remember fancying me, and Elise was the only person who had those memories, so it is done.”<br/>
<br/>
The reaction was about as bad as he’d expected: Ron was gaping at him like a Grindylow out of water. But Harry couldn’t bear seeing how hurt Hermione looked, even if it was about their school nemesis.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry James Potter, you have no right to mess with people’s memories even if it Malfoy. Even if he likes you!” her voice was cold.<br/>
<br/>
“I know, Mione. Elise started talking about the wizarding prejudices and whatnot, and I was afraid we would not win the case like that. She was supposed to restore them… But.” Harry paused unable to hold her disdainful gaze.<br/>
<br/>
“But she is dead” Ron provided.<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t think you were trying to save Malfoy, Harry”, Hermione said bitterly, “You were trying to save yourself the embarrassment. And I thought me doing that to my parents might teach you something.”<br/>
<br/>
“Hermione, I know, I am sorry…” Harry mumbled.<br/>
<br/>
“You should be! You need to fix it! And don’t ask for my help until you do!” she exclaimed and went away to the girls’ dormitories.<br/>
<br/>
“So what do you expect me to do? Tell him I know he’d fancied me or something?!” Harry shouted after her.<br/>
<br/>
“I guess, you do, mate…” Ron said and shook his head disapprovingly. “I cannot believe I am saying this but you need to talk about your feelings and shit with the ferret.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>It looks like I can't help but turn this into a murder mystery, the boys are going to hook up soon, no worries.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. The Missing Auror</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It looks like Draco started to notice that something is off about Potter. Let's see how long they are going to dance around each other ;)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dear Draco,<br/>
<br/>
I implore you not to write me anymore. I am content with my life in France and I do not wish to be haunted by ghosts of the past.<br/>
Yours, Pansy.<br/>
<br/>
PS. I am sorry about your father. </p>
<p><em>“Incendio!”</em><br/>
<br/>
He watched the flame eagerly eating away at the parchment. Pansy was probably the only person Draco had confided in, and she was refusing to help him restore his memories. It was cruel and unfair and he didn’t know what he had done to hurt her. Him being queer wasn’t that big of a deal. The Blacks had a lot of those in their always pure bloodline, and all of them managed to marry and produce their rightful heirs without any trouble. There must have been someone that he’d fallen for that Pansy did not approve of. But who?<br/>
<br/>
Draco wasn’t the only Slytherin to come back for the unofficial eighth year, but most of the people he knew were either in exile, arrested, or dead. He briefly thought of Crabbe and the way that he died in the Room of Requirement.<br/>
<br/>
He often dreamed about being there, falling down into the mouth of a fiery beast, trying to grab something and losing his grip. Draco knew that somehow he managed to survive the fiendfyre, he just didn’t remember how. Was that another instance that had been wiped away or was the event so traumatic his brain had shielded him from it? He may never know now.<br/>
<br/>
Aunt Bella had inadvertently taught him how to dissociate, when she Crucioed him until he couldn’t remember where he was and why he needed to continue living. She thought it would make him tough, build resistance, but it made him forget, made his mind get stuck on one point, and stop paying attention to anything else.<br/>
<br/>
Draco was stuck on that little glimpse of memory that had burst through the fog. His french cousin… he couldn’t recall his name but he remembered how he tasted, how it felt to touch him, how he was aroused by the pliant body in his arms. They’d only fooled around, but Draco thought that maybe there were others. Someone he’d forgotten, someone he was made to forget.<br/>
<br/>
His eagle owl returned with no reply from Blaize later that evening. Perhaps,  he was in hiding or had gone to America like he’d wanted to.<br/>
<br/>
Blaize… Maybe it was him that Draco was involved with. He seemed fit and there was a certain charm about him that made girls from different houses swoon and send him arrays of love-letters and charmed sweets.<br/>
<br/>
He started digging through his trunk, trying to find something that might help him, a letter or a photograph, or anything. Draco found an old newspaper clip-out with them on the picture. <em>Zabini widow to be married again</em>, read the title.<br/>
<br/>
Blaize was standing next to him and Pansy: tall handsome, with a charming smile, and yet there wasn’t anything that would suggest that he and Draco were an item. He noticed another Slytherin student in the crowd close to them. Theodore Nott.<br/>
<br/>
Draco smiled, maybe he would get his answer after all.</p><p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>“Theo,” he grabbed the boy by the forearm and dragged him into a secluded alcove.<br/>
<br/>
“What do you want, Malfoy?” Nott grumbled, trying to look for his wand.<br/>
<br/>
“I need you to tell me something, it would only be a minute…” Draco said, quickly disarming him.<br/>
<br/>
“Get off of me, you faggot!” Theodore whined angrily.<br/>
<br/>
Malfoy paused. So he wasn’t imagining it. It was true. Well, at least he knew that Nott was not connected to him whatsoever.<br/>
<br/>
“Tell me… Me and Zabini… were we? you know… involved?” he asked quietly.<br/>
<br/>
“Not in denial anymore, are you?” Theo smirked, trying to pry Draco’s fingers away from his robes.<br/>
<br/>
“I did not ask you for your bloody opinion, Nott!” his hands were closing dangerously over another boys throat.<br/>
<br/>
“No…” his classmate started gasping for breath. “Zabini dated Daphne… the Greengrass girl. They were… a big deal in Slytherin.”<br/>
<br/>
Draco let go. Not Zabini then… He could not recall anyone else who could be reappearing in so many of his memories and somehow make them all blurry and unstable.<br/>
<br/>
“Thank you for your cooperation,” Malfoy smiled carnivorously and punched Nott straight in his sneering face, “And this… is for calling me a faggot!”<br/>
<br/>
He turned on his heels and quickly walked away before the bastard started throwing the Unforgivables at his back.<br/>
<br/>
Draco rounded the corner and met face to face with the Golden Boy.<br/>
<br/>
“Malfoy! What were you... d-doing there... with Nott?” Potter asked warningly.<br/>
<br/>
“Like I am supposed to report my every single move to you now, Potter!” the blonde was not in the mood to be dealing with him of all people.<br/>
<br/>
Why was Potter always getting in his way? The git was relentless, not only he did not let him forget that his arse was handed to him by the Wizengamot this summer, but he also was creeping everywhere Draco went. The Gryffindor probably thought that Draco hadn’t noticed him stalking in corridors, staring during the meals. Potter’s new habit had helped the Slytherin determine where he was even when he was using some sort of disillusionment charm - a faint smell of firewhiskey was following him everywhere.<br/>
<br/>
<em>What a nutter, he surely had some serious issues. So much for being a heroic Savior.</em><br/>
<br/>
“You s-shouldn’t be… um,  looking for trouble, now that you’re on prob...”<br/>
<br/>
“If you say the word probation one more goddamn time, I swear, it will be the last thing that comes out of your mouth!” Draco growled getting closer to the berk. “Potter, go sleep that off, you reek!”<br/>
<br/>
“D-Dontcha start yourself” Potter replied, slurring his words. He looked sickly and pale, his hair was even messier than usual and his body shivering. “I ac-actually need t-to talk to ya.”<br/>
<br/>
“No, you don’t!” the Slytherin said coldly. “Fuck off, will you? I don’t know what is your deal but it’s disturbing!”<br/>
<br/>
“I wanted… I wanted t-to tell you all those things-s. I… never have enough… courage… and Hermione won’t t-talk to me… if I don’t… and I hate it… when she d-does that” he started babbling.<br/>
<br/>
“Potter!” Draco put his hands on the git’s shoulders and shook him into clarity. He was a good inch and half shorter and looked at him almost tenderly with those glossy eyes. “You have to sleep that off! You have issues… Look at you! You’ve already gotten completely pissed at four in the bloody afternoon! And you definitely don’t need to talk to anyone. Not me, for sure!”<br/>
<br/>
“B-but...”<br/>
<br/>
“I can drag your arse over to Pomfrey or worse, a prefect, and then the Savior of the wizarding world will be scrubbing the trophy room for months. Do you want that?” Draco exhaled.<br/>
<br/>
“N-no”<br/>
<br/>
“Then. Get. Away. From. Me!” he gritted inches away from Potter’s stupid bespectacled face.<br/>
<br/>
Something happened… he saw those emerald eyes with large dilated pupils and he remembered… He remembered being as pathetic as Potter was… Staring at someone, following them to the quidditch locker room… trying to get their attention. Who was that?<br/>
<br/>
“D-Draco… I am sorry,” Potter whispered quietly puffing hot boozy breath into his face and then he was gone.<br/>
<br/>
Surely that someone couldn’t have been Potter...<br/>
<br/>
Draco shook his head, banishing the thought. The only emotions he felt for the git right now were guilt and irritation. There wasn’t anything in him that would have been called attractive, was there?<br/>
<br/>
* * *<br/>
<br/>
The next time he found Potter, Draco was wandering around the Black Lake. The Gryffindor was slumped over a trunk of the willow tree and for a moment it looked like he had been cursed. Draco came closer and noticed that the git was just napping. His glassed had tumbled to the ground, his uniform was askew and the robes were tangled around him like a blanket. Potter had never looked so calm and yet so vulnerable before. His eyelashes were thick and dark and they were in stark contrast to his pale complexion. Draco could see a long stretch of his neck, dotted with a few beauty marks, a slender line of the collar bone visible through the open collar of his shirt.  And maybe for the first time he gazed over the Golden Boy and was happy with the results. Potter wasn’t that bad-looking. He still was an obnoxious plonker, but his appearance was not the worst in Draco’s books.<br/>
<br/>
His mind wandered back to that irksome idea, that Potter might be the one who Draco liked. And it was difficult to argue otherwise at that very moment.<br/>
<br/>
“Step away from him, Malfoy!” Draco heard a female voice behind him.<br/>
<br/>
He turned around to find a Weasley girl, a scowl on her freckled face, pointing her wand straight at his chest. Of course, how he could forget about that creature. Potter and her were a couple. Or at least this was he remembered.<br/>
<br/>
“You’re always in the way! Harry is like this because of you!” she groused angrily. “Give me just one reason not to hex you right now!”<br/>
<br/>
“Calm your tits, Weasley. I was just minding my own business,” Draco replied calmly lifting his hands to show that he was unarmed.<br/>
“Vespertilio…” Weaslette shouted. A bat bogey hex, how original.<br/>
<br/>
“Protego Maxima!”<br/>
<br/>
Draco had been enveloped by somebody’s protective magic and then he noticed Potter standing behind him and holding the shield.<br/>
“Ginny! Stop… This is low! You attacked him when he was unarmed!” the brunette cried.<br/>
<br/>
“Why are you defending him, Harry! He looked like he was about to curse you!” the girl screeched, crossing her arms and glaring at stunned Draco.<br/>
<br/>
“Malfoy cannot curse me, Ginny! He would be arrested immediately and besides, I can deal with the git myself if I need to!” Potter explained.<br/>
<br/>
“But…” girl Weasley looked like she was about to burst into tears and Draco thought it would be a good idea to make his exit now.<br/>
<br/>
“Malfoy! Wait! I need to talk to you!” Potter called after him.<br/>
<br/>
“As much as I enjoy being in the middle of your little domestic, I have other things to attend,” the Slytherin huffed and quickly started walking towards the castle.<br/>
<br/>
He still heard something that seemed like quite a fierce argument between Potter and his girlfriend.<br/>
<br/>
<em>Trouble in paradise, huh?</em> Draco contemplated.<br/>
<br/>
* * *<br/>
<br/>
A large eagle owl swooped over the Slytherin table to deliver Malfoy’s mail. Harry watched a brief smile appear on blonde’s face as he gently stroked the feathers on the bird’s head. He was distracted by the Slytherin again.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry… Your mail!” Neville announced and he looked at the barn owl that landed on the pile of half-eaten toasts and was looking at him expectantly with its big amber eyes.<br/>
<br/>
Since Harry did not manage to have any meaningful conversation with the git yet, Hermione still wasn’t speaking to him and Ron was trying his best to be as diplomatic as possible caught in the crossfire. So currently only Neville and Luna sat next to him at the Gryffindor table for breakfast.<br/>
<br/>
He opened the envelope. There was an official letter stating that Malfoy’s probation officer was reassigned to Auror Williamson and that Narcissa Malfoy was discharged from Saint Mungo’s after her mental collapse that followed Lucius’ funeral.<br/>
<br/>
Williamson... the same Auror that had delivered the bad news about Elise’s death to Harry.<br/>
<br/>
“Neville! Do you remember Auror Williamson? Wasn’t he the one who was at the Department of Mysteries?” he asked.<br/>
<br/>
“Was he found then, Harry?” Luna surprised him.<br/>
<br/>
“What do you mean by that?” Harry wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear another weird theory about the man being involved with some non-existent magical creatures.<br/>
<br/>
“I think it was his mother, who came over to talk to the Quibbler at the end of July. Remember, we were making a list of people that died and were missing during the war,” the girl explained. “He was in the missing section, as far as I can recall.”<br/>
<br/>
“Luna, are you one hundred percent sure about this?!”<br/>
<br/>
“I can lend you our list if you want to,” she smiled at him.<br/>
<br/>
Gryffindor’s mind was racing. How come the Auror that was proclaimed missing by his family was calmly working for the Ministry and getting involved with Malfoy and Auror Baelish’s case? Was there someone Pollyjuiced as him, was he under the Imperius charm? And now he knew that secret message Elise had left him in the confidential letter.<br/>
<br/>
“Luna, I need that list as soon as possible,” Harry demanded urgently.<br/>
<br/>
“My father can mail it to you tomorrow,” Luna replied.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry, is something wrong?” Neville asked worryingly.<br/>
<br/>
“I am not, sure…” Harry said, distracted by his thoughts. He quickly glanced at the Slytherin table to see if Malfoy was still there, but he must have left already. “I need to talk to… someone! Thanks, Luna!”<br/>
<br/>
He quickly walked out of the Great Hall and instead of going to class, went over to the McGonagall’s office. He needed to know the schedule of Malfoy’s meetings with the parole officer.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Ebb and Flow</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The mystery continues and is it me or our boys might start to like each other ;) The shenanigans are coming soon, I just need a bit of plot first.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Draco, come in,” Headmistress McGonagall opened the door to a small classroom and the Slytherin walked in to see an Auror in simple dark-blue robes with a long ponytail of strawberry-blonde hair.<br/>
<br/>
Harry stalked past the door into the room with them, hidden safely under his Invisibility Cloak.<br/>
<br/>
“Oliver Williamson!” the man introduced himself, “I am appointed as your new probation officer.”<br/>
<br/>
“Well, you already know who I am,” Malfoy huffed, giving a pained glance to McGonagall, who left them alone, and leaned over one of the desks, crossing his arms and looking bored out of his mind.<br/>
<br/>
The meeting was surprisingly dull and mundane, the Auror went over the checklist while Malfoy tried to answer the questions using as few words as possible. Under the Cloak the Gryffindor was listening to every word, trying to catch anything that would incriminate either of them.<br/>
<br/>
“Your mother has recently been discharged from Saint Mungo’s,” Williamson mentioned, “your letters to her have been very uninformative, are you trying not to upset her?”<br/>
<br/>
“Of course they would be uninformative since your lot keeps on reading them,” Malfoy retorted glaring at the Auror.<br/>
<br/>
“Draco, I know what it is like to have a strained relationship with family… You have gone through a lot and your parents were unable to protect you.” the man smiled sympathetically.<br/>
<br/>
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Slytherin spat, “don’t try to pretend you understand!”<br/>
<br/>
Harry held his breath, waiting for them to say something worthwhile.<br/>
<br/>
“My mom was a bit of a mental case,” Williamson laughed to himself, “she was telling me that our neighbor’s crup dug through all the mandrakes in the garden. The neighbors never even had a crup, bless her.”<br/>
<br/>
“What happened to her?” Draco asked quietly.<br/>
<br/>
“We don’t talk anymore… She became a hermit during the war. Thought I was a Death Eater when I last saw her.”<br/>
<br/>
So Williamson’s mom was a tad loony... Maybe the Auror wasn’t actually missing and that was a genuine mistake. Harry wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.<br/>
<br/>
“But enough of this. I have some good news for you. You will be helping the War Victims Orphanage in London this Halloween as a part of your community service,” Williamson passed him the brochure and Malfoy’s face became positively green.<br/>
<br/>
Harry crept up closer and snuck a look over Slytherin’s shoulder to remember the date and the location of the event in case the git tries to do something notorious while outside Hogwarts. He caught a pleasant whiff of Malfoy’s cologne. It was fresh, citrusy and a faint hint of tobacco smell was strangely complementing it. Harry mentally cursed himself, he shouldn’t be sniffing Draco sodding Malfoy while trying to catch an imposter.<br/>
<br/>
Before he knew it, the meeting was over and nothing out of ordinary happened. The Gryffindor saw the man join McGonagall in the corridor and thought that the matter needed further investigation. Constant Vigilance, Harry remembered the words of late Alastor Moody. He learned the hard way, that if something was ordinary, there were still reasons to be suspicious. </p><p><br/>
* * *</p><p>“Harry! I need to talk to you!” Ginny had ambushed him when he was about to leave the common room and go up to the boys’ dormitories.<br/>
<br/>
“If you are going to go on about Malfoy…” Harry started to speak.<br/>
<br/>
“No… now I understand!” she interrupted him, “I overheard Ron and Hermione talking. And I wished you would have told me sooner.”<br/>
<br/>
“What do you mean?”<br/>
<br/>
“That you fancied him… I should have known something was weird when you went on about saving him from Azkaban…” she said quietly.<br/>
<br/>
“What?!” Harry gaped at her unable to comprehend what was going on. “I don’t… <em>Muffliato!</em>” he glanced around the common room to see if anyone was listening and whispered angrily, “I don’t bloody fancy Malfoy!”<br/>
<br/>
“You are a terrible liar, Harry. I know you…” Ginny looked heartbroken. “I would’ve understood if you did not love me anymore but this... How could you do it to us, to the memory of Fred? You know what he… what his family has done… It has been only three months since the war has ended and you…”<br/>
<br/>
“Ginny...” Harry did not know how to handle this subdued version of her. When they fought, they would scream at each other, and then they would somehow patch it back together. But now he wasn’t sure he could do anything about it, he has gotten himself tangled up in this mess and it looked like he was a villain in all the circumstances, “I will fix it! I promise!”<br/>
<br/>
“I am sorry, but I don’t think I can believe you anymore…” she said and went away, leaving him to deal with the whispering housemates that had just witnessed the breakup of Gryffindor star couple.<br/>
<br/>
Harry walked up to the dormitories, took out the invisibility cloak, and his trusty flask and left the West tower.<br/>
<br/>
He had hurt everyone, who was important in his life. Hermione wasn’t speaking to him, Ron was trying his best to bridge that rift, but it was rough. And then Sirius, how could he stop loving his godfather because he was queer, how could he go down that road, feeling selfishly upset about the things he had no say in, about the past Sirius had never shared with him.<br/>
<br/>
Ginny was about to leave him for good… And it wasn’t because she was angry, but because he wasn’t her hero anymore. He was a scum that couldn’t honor the loss her family had faced. He was drinking his life away while she was bottling up her grief to stay strong for him.<br/>
<br/>
And Draco… how could he make that choice for him, selfishly deciding to wipe away his feelings, using Elise to fix something that he was too cowardly to deal with himself? And now she was dead, and somehow Harry felt responsible for that. So many people died because of him, because of his cowardice, and now she was another person to be on that list.<br/>
<br/>
The liquid burned his throat as he took a big swig from his flask of firewhiskey. For the first time Harry had wished he did not come back from that forest alive. </p><p>... Harry heard a rustle of material and then something warm and heavy covered his shivering body... he must have fallen asleep somewhere in the castle... Long fingers were stroking his hair… the surrounding air smelled of menthol cigarettes and citrus aftershave…<br/>
<br/>
“You know, Potter, I am starting to worry about you,” a quiet voice spoke in received pronunciation... someone exhaled a puff of smoke...<br/>
<br/>
He was too sluggish to think, but somehow he felt safe with this person next to him.<br/>
<br/>
“Granger! You are his friend… you should be taking better care of him!” the voice wasn’t gentle anymore, it sounded irritated…<br/><br/>
…. Red… the curtains over his bed were red… he was in his dormitory… what a weird dream… he shouldn’t have drunk that much… He could still pick up a slight smell of tobacco…   </p><p><br/>
* * *</p><p>The next time Harry woke up, he found himself in the library, his cheek resting on a heavy book. He remembered that he took out the Hogwarts student registry to see if there was any information about Auror Williamson that might be useful.<br/>
<br/>
He noticed that Hermione was standing over him, biting her lower lip nervously.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry… I am sorry,” tears brimmed in her brown eyes.<br/>
<br/>
“It’s me who should be saying that,” Harry croaked sleepily and in a moment he saw a cloud of curly hair, and Hermione was holding him in a fierce embrace.<br/>
<br/>
“When I saw you last night…” she mumbled into his shoulder, “I should have never made you go through all this alone. I was so selfish, Harry!”<br/>
<br/>
He couldn’t recall what happened yesterday after his falling out with Ginny, perhaps he got that hammered.<br/>
<br/>
“It’s fine now, I was a bigger berk there…” Harry patted her back, comfortingly, “I knew about your parents, and still did this…”<br/>
<br/>
“Alright!” Hermione let him go, wiping away her tears and sat across from him with determination, “I have been trying to crack that code, the one in your Tibi at Igni message. And I think I’ve got it!”<br/>
<br/>
Harry was relieved to have her old self back and prepared to listen attentively.<br/>
<br/>
“Elise Baelish was a muggle-born, and she left you a message written in a ballpoint pen, so I thought it could be a location of a muggle place. First letters KC - they might mean King’s Cross station, she was supposed to meet with Malfoy there, so maybe she has hidden something before the meeting. The last numbers look very similar to a code lock combination, we used to have these lockers in our primary school… with the combination locks just like that! And 008 would be the number of a coin locker at King’s Cross station.”<br/>
<br/>
“That’s brilliant, Hermione!” Harry exclaimed too loudly and Madam Pince gave him a death stare and a shush.<br/>
<br/>
Now the Gryffindor needed to get to London by any means, and he even knew a perfect occasion.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Danse Macabre</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I adore classical music and I think Draco might like it too... A little surprise everyone has been waiting for at the end ;)</p>
<p>I used Liszt's arrangement of Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre that Draco was playing, you can listen to it on YouTube <a href="https://youtu.be/sSIyW9MfD60">HERE</a></p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The dining hall of  St. Barbara’s Orphanage for Victims of War was starting to fill with people. Children from magical families who had lost their parents were wearing handmade costumes and simple glamours that their teachers helped them to charm. A lot of them were only five or six years old. They jumped around so excitedly that wayward magic was seeping from them making the gaslight lamps flicker on and off and random objects start floating and then suddenly fall to the ground.<br/>
<br/>
There were rows of mismatched jack-o-lanterns with crooked and uneven faces, colorful stickers, and bright spots of gouache paint lining the walls and handmade bats, witches, and skeletons decorated every surface.<br/>
<br/>
Harry noticed Draco Malfoy amid giggling girls. He was charming the wings on their fairy costumes to flutter and then produced the most beautiful multicolored bubbles. They looked like magical creatures: dragons and griffins and mermaids. A pleasant smile made his face strangely attractive. His sleeves were rolled up a bit and Harry noticed a black stain of Dark Mark on his forearm. Even though these children had lost their parents because of the Death Eaters they did not acknowledge the mark at all.<br/>
<br/>
“Grief has changed this boy,” he heard Andromeda Tonks speak next to him.<br/>
<br/>
She came, wearing a beautiful set of dark purple robes, with baby Teddy in her arms, his hair had turned raven black as soon as he noticed Harry.<br/>
<br/>
He smiled at his godson and took him on his lap. He was only half a year old but his magical abilities already started to show. Harry wondered what was he like when he was little, did Aunt Petunia ever cooed to him and smother him with hugs and kisses like he and Andromeda did, or was he always that unwanted.<br/>
<br/>
Malfoy noticed them in the crowd and shot a colorful dragon bubble to float towards little Teddy. The boy started laughing uncontrollably reaching out to catch it. His hair turned blue again. Harry smiled to himself. As much as Malfoy wanted to appear cold and unreachable, he was completely different on the inside.<br/>
<br/>
The talent show was about to start and Draco ushered the girls in the fairy costumes backstage. He didn’t go back into the audience and Harry wondered if they had persuaded him to take part in it. What he did not expect is to see the Slytherin come on the stage, wearing simple black dress robes and sit down at the grand piano. The fairy dancers had entered the stage, and he started playing. It was a muggle piece, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Harry had heard it on TV a couple of times before Christmas. There were other contestants and other muggle classical melodies were played by Malfoy. He accompanied every single dance, song, and music recital.<br/>
The last child had left the stage and the spotlight was left lingering on the grand piano. Malfoy had sat a bit straighter for a moment and then started the most passionate performance.<br/>
<br/>
“Danse Macabre,” Andromeda whispered, “that was one of Cissa’s favorite pieces. A fitting choice for Halloween.”<br/>
<br/>
Harry watched in awe the way his long fingers ran quickly over the keys, Malfoy was absorbed in music, his body swaying and bending over the keyboard. It was fast, desperate, and full of fervor he had only seen on the quidditch pitch before.<br/>
<br/>
After the last chord and an uproar of applause, the blonde bowed and looked up at the audience, his face was red and sweaty and Harry couldn’t take his eyes away from him.<br/>
<br/>
“You can tell that he is a Black,” Andromeda chuckled and went over to congratulate Draco. </p>
<p><br/>
* * *</p>
<p>    The night London glistened with harsh neon and soft streetlight. Draco let out another puff of scented smoke into the cold air; the heating charm did not help at all, and he was freezing. His fingers were aching, it has been so long since he touched the ivory in the Manor. Before Aunt Bella showed up and called piano a hobby for good for nothing pansies, he would entertain his quests by sitting next to them and playing something. That trick had always worked, Pansy’s facial expression was positively revolting when he played her favorite piece.<br/>
<br/>
It seemed to work on Potter too. Draco had noticed how he was looking at him all evening and it was amusing and flattering and a bit worrying as well. So the Savior of the Wizarding World was not so straight himself even if he was oblivious to it.<br/>
<br/>
“Hey, Malfoy!” <em>Oh, speak of the banshee… </em> Potter came over, holding his hands in his pockets. “Erm… good… er... job today.”<br/>
<br/>
“As eloquent as ever, Potter” Draco smirked, “Want one?”<br/>
<br/>
He offered the Gryffindor a pack of cigarettes.<br/>
<br/>
“Teddy might not like the smell,” he refused.<br/>
<br/>
“Hm, you sound like that chap, Vernon… some or other,” the blonde looked at him attentively. Potter blushed and Draco’s suspicions were confirmed. <em>What a nosey git.</em><br/>
<br/>
“So how are you going to get back to Hogwarts?” the Gryffindor asked, trying to change the topic.<br/>
<br/>
“A muggle taxicab to the Leaky, probably… and then the floo. I am not even allowed to side-along.” Draco replied bitterly.<br/>
<br/>
“What about your fancy car?”<br/>
<br/>
“It is still in the police pound, I reckon.” the Slytherin groused. “Those muggles took it away as soon as the merry men from the Ministry arrested me.”<br/>
<br/>
“How about we take it back?” a wicked grin was dancing on Potter’s face, “Can’t you summon it with magic?”<br/>
<br/>
Draco looked at him incredulously, “Have you been drinking again, Potter? I am still under the investigation, remember?”<br/>
<br/>
“We can put it back,” Potter suggested, something mischievous was glistening in his eyes, “Or are you scared, Malfoy?”<br/>
<br/>
“Oh, you wish, Potter!” Draco huffed, stumping the cigarette butt with fervor, “And that was my line anyway. <em>Accio Mercedes!</em>”<br/>
<br/>
They waited for good ten minutes before they saw the headlights nearing the narrow alleyway and the black Mercedes stopped in front of them, badly scratched, a part of stripy muggle barrier stuck to the front bumper.<br/>
<br/>
“Look what you made me do, Potter!” the blonde went over to assess the damage and then fixed the worst of it with a simple Reparo. Then he’d cast a muggle repelling and a disillusioning charm and opened the driver’s door. “Where to?”<br/>
<br/>
“I wanted to drive around a bit if you don’t mind” the Gryffindor looked shy for a moment.<br/>
<br/>
“Hop in, Potter, before I changed my mind!” Draco flicked the wand to the ignition and the engine purred to life. </p>
<p><br/>
</p>
<p>He felt alive at the steering wheel, it felt almost like flying a broomstick, the clamor and light of passing traffic rushing past. Potter was silent, looking absently out of the window, his eyes were glossy and vacant and Draco wondered for a moment what was he thinking about.<br/>
<br/>
They were nearing Charing Cross Road when the Gryffindor caught his gaze, “Malfoy, do you mind stopping somewhere, I have been meaning to tell you something for a long time.”<br/>
<br/>
Draco’s heart had skipped a beat, what was he on about… Was Potter meaning to confess his undying love to him or something? The git wasn’t queer, even if those glances were a tad more interested than he’d expected.<br/>
<br/>
They stopped on the empty street in the muggle neighborhood. A group of drunk youth in tattered costumes and painted faces were walking along on the pavement paying no mind to a vintage Mercedes-Benz.<br/>
<br/>
“I know that Auror Baelish had altered your memory…” Potter exhaled nervously, “She had left me a message and I found this.” He offered a small vial with a shiny silvery substance that could only be a memory. “I believe this is one of yours. I've found it in the coin locker at King’s Cross. ”<br/>
<br/>
Draco took the glass carefully, watching the liquid shimmer inside.<br/>
<br/>
“There must be more… the location of this memory was in the confidential letter and yours was…”<br/>
<br/>
“Destroyed by that incompetent buffoon at the Auror’s Office,” the Slytherin gritted.<br/>
<br/>
“Well, it is better than nothing,” Potter gave him a lopsided grin.<br/>
<br/>
“Do you know why she did it?” Draco had a feeling he already knew the answer by how guilty the git looked at that moment.<br/>
<br/>
“I asked her to… Because you are… queer... and I didn’t want the Wizengamot and the papers to get a wrong impression and send you to Azkaban…”<br/>
<br/>
“And what sort of wrong impression they might get, huh?” he sneered, grabbing the git by the shirt collar and glaring at him.<br/>
<br/>
“You should look at that memory…” Potter’s voice was meek.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh I will, you coward!” Draco growled and lunged himself at startled Gryffindor.<br/>
<br/>
Their noses crushed, teeth clanked and the frames of Potter’s glasses dug painfully into his cheek, but he was kissing him, scaring him into submission, refusing to let go even when the other boy’s fingers were trying to push him away.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
… He felt a gust of hot air on his face... there was smoke and ember glow of fiery beasts raging around him… he was scrambling for his dear life, climbing the pile of forgotten rubbish, when he saw a hand outstretched in front of him, promising safety and forgiveness…<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
Draco mowed away abruptly, breathing heavily. Potter looked stunned, horrified, disheveled, and somehow handsome.<br/>
<br/>
“You may leave now… unless you want me to hex you!” he said evenly. The Slytherin didn’t need to ask again, in a moment the passenger side door closed with a loud thud, and he was alone in the car.<br/>
<br/>
He sat there for some time, a lit cigarette slowly burning away in his fingers, forgotten. Draco only meant to scare Potter a little, but the way his body had responded to this stolen kiss had frightened him even more.</p>
<p>* * *<br/>
<br/>
Draco had gotten himself a detention… on purpose. He had been planning it the whole week, to anger McGonagall just enough to get some lines to write. The only Pensieve in Hogwarts was in Headmistress’ Office and he was itching to see what was in that memory. It kept him up for many nights before, he even tried finding books on how to see the memory without using the magical device, but the sources were contradictory at best.<br/>
<br/>
Now he was starting to regret it. The Headmistress was watching him like a hawk the whole time, making sure that he was actually writing those lines. She did not even read him a lecture, just said that could have been avoided, and gave him some parchment and writing utensils.<br/>
<br/>
As his quill was scratching away Draco’s mind inadvertently wandered back to that evening on Halloween. He did not question Potter’s actions, if he had discovered some potentially damaging information about himself he would have done the same without thinking. It was a very Slytherin thing to do. If his father had survived he might need to forget about his preferences to continue the family line. But now, it didn’t matter anymore.<br/>
<br/>
What mattered though was this stupid attraction to Potter. Draco had caught himself staring at the git for too long. And the fact that the Gryffindor was avoiding him now instead of his usual stalking was unnerving. He wanted to see how he would react if Draco tried to kiss him again.<br/>
<br/>
“Mister Malfoy,” McGonagall interrupted his daydreaming. “Do you care to explain to me the real reason you wanted to be in my office?”<br/>
<br/>
“Erm, no reason, professor,” he mumbled.<br/>
<br/>
“You’re far too mature for setting off a dung bomb, Mister Malfoy,” she looked at him knowingly.<br/>
<br/>
Well Draco could always try, “Professor, I was wondering if I may use the Pensieve…”<br/>
<br/>
The witch looked at him for a moment, contemplating whether he had an ulterior motive.<br/>
<br/>
“I hope whatever you are about to view is not for the recreational use…” the Headmistress had cleared her throat.<br/>
<br/>
“No, ma’am!” he protested, “It is concerning my trial, I just wanted to make sure I haven’t missed anything important.”<br/>
<br/>
“Very well, you may use it then,” McGonagall was still looking at him intently. “I give you one hour, Mister Malfoy. Don’t touch anything else in the room, I will know.”<br/>
<br/>
She flicked her wand and a round metal dish levitated slowly towards Draco. He exhaled and took out the vial Potter had given him. He poured the shimmering liquid inside the basin and it swirled gently. The Slytherin waited until McGonagall had gone out and looked in tentatively.<br/>
<br/>
… He is inside an old, dusty room, that eerily reminded him of the Room of Requirement, there are old pieces of wizarding furniture covered with glossy muggle material. He notices a young man sitting on the floor among old things and crying… the boy is clutching old photos of many people smiling, kissing, dancing… the boy looks up and the room lurches and swirls into another memory…<br/>
<br/>
… A gang of angry muggle children rounds on the small boy in big broken spectacles… One big bulky muggle shoves him hard and the boy falls to the ground… the group laughs and calls him names and the boy just wants to get away from them… to disappear…<br/>
<br/>
… Draco is inside a very small room, it looks like a cupboard and it is dark and stuffy… the boy is sitting inside… clutching the torn piece of parchment in his small palm… he looks like a house-elf in his washed-out oversized hand-me-downs… An angry red-faced man opens the door and wrestles a piece of parchment away from the boy’s hands… he bellows something about owl infestation…<br/>
<br/>
… A ginger girl is shouting at the lad in front of her… she is wearing only a bedsheet over her naked body… the lad is sitting on the bed, holding his head in his hands and rocking back and forth… he is having a panic attack and a stupid girl is not trying to help… she just keeps screaming… then sobbing… then walking away...<br/>
<br/>
… they are in the alcove behind a muggle establishment… loud music and sounds of laughter come from behind them… the young man is pressed to the wall by a tall blonde stranger… Vernon Duddley… the stranger looks muggle… they kiss drunkenly… the young man moans his name… Draco’s name…<br/>
<br/>
He got away from the Pensieve as quickly as possible, scooping out the memories into a vial with shaky hands. Baelish, that bloody bint… she had created a dossier on Potter using his most private and most embarrassing memories… and the foolish sod had given them to Draco.<br/>
<br/>
He wished somebody would Obliviate him once again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Painless Poppy Philtre</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It is my pleasure to inform you that there is some mature content ahead ;)<br/>Also, I've updated the previous chapter so if you haven't read Harry's memories go check them out...<br/>Warning about some magical substance abuse and bullying</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>“WAR ORPHANS ENTERTAINED BY DEATH EATER! POTTER COMPLICIT?”</em><br/>
<br/>
The title screamed at him from every Daily Prophet. Harry walked tiredly to the Great Hall that morning, followed by the familiar whispering of students. He sat next to Ron and Hermione who defiantly refused to read whatever rubbish the paper had published.<br/>
<br/>
He still saw grainy Malfoy’s face everywhere, an attractive smile on his face, bowing on the stage, followed by his mugshot from DMLE exhausted vacant eyes and withered complexion. The next picture made a flush creep upon his cheeks and neck - they were standing close together: the Slytherin smirking and taking a drag on his cigarette, Harry laughing at something and looking a bit smitten. The image was disturbingly honest, and he wanted to incinerate every single copy of it. The git was notably missing from the Slytherin table and Harry thanked Merlin from small mercies.<br/>
<br/>
“At least the Wizarding Symphonic Orchestra had donated a lot of galleons to St. Barbara’s,” Luna waltzed from the Ravenclaw table and gave him a sympathetic smile. “My father interviewed the conductor and he was moved by Draco’s performance.’<br/>
<br/>
“Thank you, Luna,” Harry said, “I was there only to see Teddy though.”<br/>
<br/>
“Oh, I know it’s supposed to be a big secret,” she whispered dramatically.  </p><p>The whispers followed him all the way to the Potions class, Harry was glad to see that Ron had saved him a seat and was about to take out his ingredients when he heard  Slughorn scolding somebody in the corridor.<br/>
<br/>
“You should be going to the hospital wing… you will smear blood all over the place!”<br/>
<br/>
“It is fine, professor… I can heal it myself.” a familiar voice answered briskly and Malfoy walked into the classroom, his jaw clenched a deep cut and a bruise blooming under one eye, nose bleeding. He walked up to surprised Hermione and whispered something to her, she stood up from their table, scooping up her things, and moved towards the end of the classroom to sit next to him.<br/>
<br/>
“What the hell, Mione…” Ron called incredulously.<br/>
<br/>
“Ronald, I told you that I would be working on the Memory restoring elixir. Well, Malfoy is my partner on this project,” she huffed and flicked a quick Episkey at Slytherin’s sore face.<br/>
<br/>
He curtly nodded at her, avoiding Ron’s death glare.<br/>
<br/>
“Everybody, settle down! It is time for you to pick out your N.E.W.T potion projects, Miss Granger here and Mr… Malfoy have already decided to work on a memory-related subject, an admirable goal. For the rest of you: the deadline is next week, you need to decide upon which potion you need to complete in the following two months. It must be a N.E.W.T. level and get at least an Acceptable for you to pass this course”.<br/>
<br/>
“Two months… Harry,” the ginger complained, “My girlfriend will be fraternizing with the ferret for two months!”<br/>
<br/>
“It’s just a project,” he shook his head.<br/>
<br/>
The rest of the class Harry had spent pretending to look through potion books while musing about the nature of the Slytherin’s injuries. The Malfoy of the past would make a big deal out of it and ensure that his father hears about this. But Lucius Malfoy was no more and Draco was way quieter and lonelier this year. Most of his former associates in exile or hiding. He wondered if the git had gotten into the fight with someone and was it because of that article.<br/>
<br/>
“At least tell me that Ginny accidentally took the Elixir of Insanity and you don’t fancy him,” Ron asked after a while, glaring at the blonde.<br/>
“Ron… I'm begging you, don’t start with this…” Harry exhaled tiredly.<br/>
<br/>
“She is trying to be more considerate… But you’ve really hurt her. You need to sort it out, mate. She still thinks there might be some chance for her so that’s why she’s acting out. Trying to get your attention,” his friend explained.<br/>
<br/>
“So you’re telling me that Ginny accusing me of fancying Malfoy is the sign that she wants to get back together?” he asked, confused.<br/>
<br/>
“I am not supposed to make jokes like these anymore, but women am I right?” Ron gave him an apologetic smile.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p>Draco muttered an umpteenth Protego, trying to avoid a nasty trip jinx that would make him fall two flights of stairs if he weren’t careful. The Hufflepuff that cast it screamed something derogatory but he wasn’t listening. After the smear piece that was published by that rag, he was officially declared Hogwarts’ pariah. People, who had ignored him before or would resort only to nasty glares, were hauling curses at his back for target practice. He was ambushed by a group of sneering sixth-year Gryffindors and was beaten up the muggle way.<br/>
<br/>
In the way Draco knew that he deserved it, he was smearing the reputation of their precious Savior by breathing the same air in his vicinity, but he didn’t expect it to be this brutally unfair. Because of the trace, he couldn’t even send a curse back and that was the most humiliating part. So he would punch back, and get a more severe beating that would prompt him to go through Slughorn’s potion supply cupboard in search of The Healing Salve and The Essence of Dittany and in the worst cases Blood Replenishing Potion that made him vomit green bile.<br/>
<br/>
At least he was getting better at Healing Charms, Granger had slipped him a book with them the next time they worked together on their potion project. There was a note inside asking him to report it to McGonagall but Draco simply shook his head. What good would it bring, he was already a Death Eater scum, reporting would make him a snitch as well. He was grateful to Granger because he had something to talk about to his probation officer: Draco made a muggle-born friend.<br/>
<br/>
He refused to do any more public events, giving the piano lessons at The Orphanage instead. Every weekend he would go to Saint Barbara’s and spend his time going over simple scales and chords with the children. His unofficial fan club of girls following him like the lovesick female classmates would follow Potter.<br/>
<br/>
Draco would meet with Andromeda, who volunteered at the library from time to time. She had even agreed to fake his mother’s signature for the Painless Poppy Philtre he had to take after especially nasty rows with his ill-wishers. The potion was highly addictive but it left him feeling boneless and lightheaded and soon he would use it even when he wasn’t in pain.<br/>
<br/>
He had taken another vial of the Philtre to consume in the deserted courtyard when he noticed that the bench was already occupied. By the Weasley girl and Potter. They were laughing together, acting all cheerful, and it had made Draco’s insides curl with hatred. If only that bint knew what he had known about her boyfriend’s drunk escapades, and about their abysmal intimate life she wouldn’t be smiling so happily.<br/>
<br/>
Maybe he should have sold the story to papers, Draco thought about it darkly and then remembered how Potter had protected him countless times from being publicly ridiculed and his malicious thoughts were replaced by a desperate sort of longing. The one that made him ache and want to take more potions.<br/>
<br/>
He needed to finish that Memory Elixir with Granger to know exactly whether the person he had fallen for was Potter, to give him some sort of closure and an excuse to continue hating the git.<br/>
<br/>
Draco was about to leave for the dungeons when he heard Potter call his name. He was alone, Weasley must have left already.<br/>
<br/>
“What do you want?” the blonde looked at him disdainfully.<br/>
<br/>
“Hermione had told me you were being bullied! She has already spoken to the Gryffindor prefects but you should report the rest,” he advised him.<br/>
<br/>
“Tell me, Potter, would you report it?” Draco edged him on.<br/>
<br/>
“Probably not…” the dark-haired lad mused, “but I am able to defend myself properly…”<br/>
<br/>
“And you think I am not… Do you think I am some poor pansy that cannot hit the bastards back?!” he growled.<br/>
<br/>
“I did not say that...” Potter replied lamely.<br/>
<br/>
Draco turned away from the git and marched toward his favorite bench they had defiled, intending to take the potion and forget about everything. The Gryffindor followed, looking at him worryingly.<br/>
<br/>
“Listen, Potter, I am about to take some drugs here, so how about you go chase your girlfriend and not harsh my mellow?” he laid down on the marble and emptied the vial in one swig.<br/>
<br/>
“Can I… Can I have some too?” Potter asked quietly, not taking his gaze away from the glass.<br/>
<br/>
“What? Firewhiskey is not strong enough for you anymore?” Draco smirked.<br/>
<br/>
“Ginny made me quit... I have been going cold turkey for three weeks now,” he admitted.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh, the saving power of love,” the Slytherin mocked, “Your precious Weasley wouldn’t want a Death Eater like me corrupting you into doing some potions.”<br/>
<br/>
“Cut it out, Malfoy, do you have one more or not?” Potter was getting irritated.<br/>
<br/>
“Catch!” Draco produced another vial and threw it up in the air, the git caught it with the Seeker’s precision. He looked at it for a moment, shrugged his shoulders, and took a big sip.<br/>
<br/>
“Mmm tastes not bad,” was Potter’s reaction.<br/>
<br/>
“Now shut up, lie down and let it work its magic…” Draco said and moved a bit, freeing half of the bench for him.<br/>
<br/>
He felt the crown of Potter’s head touch his own and then there was finally blessed silence…<br/>
<br/>
...The stars were spinning in the night sky and Draco felt pleasantly devoid of thoughts… his eyelids were heavy but he didn’t want to sleep at all... He could hear even breathing next to him… the rustle of school robes when Potter was getting uncomfortable lying on hard marble… he git wriggled once again and then sat up, looking down at Draco… his eyes seemed glossy with big blown-out pupils...<br/>
<br/>
“How are you feeling?” he uttered drowsily.<br/>
<br/>
“I am… brilliant,” Draco said slowly.<br/>
<br/>
“Why did you kiss me back then?” Potter asked him… he didn’t look like he was scandalized by it, just curious…<br/>
<br/>
“Cause I felt like it” the Slytherin let out a short laugh.<br/>
<br/>
“Can… can we do it again?”<br/>
<br/>
“Do what?”<br/>
<br/>
“Can I kiss you?” Potter’s eyes were bright and honest and filled with some unknown emotion...<br/>
<br/>
“Why?” the blonde murmured.<br/>
<br/>
“Because I feel like it...” the Gryffindor said and leaned over to press his lips to Draco’s chastely.<br/>
<br/>
He pulled away slowly, studying his expression, worried that he had done something completely insane. Draco sat up quickly and recaptured his lips in a more demanding kiss.	Unlike the other night, Potter did not try to push him away, he was kissing him back enthusiastically, his hands firmly resting on blonde’s shoulders. It felt better than any potion known to wizardkind, his body was alight with arousal as their kissing became more heated. He wanted to ravish Potter, to make him forget whatever terrible experience he had before, he wanted to touch him and claim him and take him away from that stupid inexperienced insensitive girl…<br/>
<br/>
Draco’s fingers snuck under Potter’s robes, gently caressing his back, traveling under his muggle jumper, touching hot skin there, making the goosebumps appear. He heard the Gryffindor moan his name, just like in that memory only now it was the real thing, he had real Draco touch him, not some muggle look-alike.<br/>
<br/>
The thought of Potter wanting him even when he was with some random bloke, made him desperately hard, and Draco wished they were in a more secluded and preferably warmer place so they could do so much more than some teenage groping in the courtyard.<br/>
<br/>
He felt Potter’s palm dangerously close to his groin, moving up his thigh and leaving a trail of heat behind.<br/>
<br/>
“Can I… touch you?” the Gryffindor asked shyly.<br/>
<br/>
“Only if you let me do it too,” Draco teased and was relieved when the other boy nodded.<br/>
<br/>
He trailed kisses over Potter’s neck, tasting tender skin there, feeling the frantic beating of his pulse. And then he decided to be cruel and bit harder at the sensitive place near the clavicle, leaving a mark. <em>Let see how he explains that to the Weasley bint later.</em><br/>
<br/>
The dark-haired boy gasped and started rubbing Draco’s cock through his trousers more determinedly. It was too little friction and yet Draco felt his hips thrust upward into Potter’s palm. Shortly the Gryfindor opened the zipper and slid a cold hand over his erection, making the blonde shiver and kiss him passionately.  He was determined to do the same and soon they were both stroking each other, foreheads touching, hot breaths leaving the clouds of steam in the air.<br/>
<br/>
Draco could look at Potter forever, his green eyes half-closed, thick dark eyelashes fluttering, cheek blushed and lips red and swollen from all the kissing. He was so beautiful so vulnerable, so open to pleasure. And Malfoy promised himself never to think of hurting him ever again. He saw Harry knot his eyebrows, close his eyes tightly shut, and let out a strained sob as he came all over Draco’s fingers.<br/>
The brunette opened his eyes and looked at the Slytherin with so much emotion that it took just a few strokes to bring him over the edge as well. They looked at each other like for the first time and a small smile appeared on Potter’s face.<br/>
<br/>
“You’re...”<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t say anything… just let it be…” Draco whispered and leaned down for one more kiss before the other boy realizes what they had just done and runs away.<br/>
<br/>
He thanked all his Black ancestors for having similar signatures.</p><p><br/>
* * *</p><p>Harry held his breath and then exhaled, coughing, his throat scratching unpleasantly. He had earned himself a chuckle from Malfoy, long fingers stole the cigarette from his hand and the blonde took a drag, producing hoops of thick menthol-flavored smoke.<br/>
<br/>
“I have corrupted you completely, haven’t I?” the Slytherin mused, putting his head on Harry’s shoulder and casting another warming charm over them.<br/>
<br/>
Harry tried smoking for the first time. This was what one did after sex in all those muggle films he’d sneakily watched: the actors all smoked, lounging leisurely in bed. But they were in a chilly courtyard and whatever they’d done not everyone would even call sex. Still, somehow he felt giddy that he’d got to finally do it, have a cigarette after getting off.<br/>
<br/>
“Potter?” the blonde asked him, “Why haven’t you run away yet? You’re not exactly the type to fool around with a bloke?”<br/>
<br/>
“I just… I dunno. It’s not nice, I guess… to leave just like that,” Harry explained. He wasn’t making much sense at the moment but he’d hoped Draco understood him. He remembered how Ginny would get upset with him when he got too nervous to sleep with her and storm off, leaving him naked and helpless and humiliated.<br/>
<br/>
“Why did you take the potion?” Malfoy was relentless with his sudden interrogation, “For all you know, it could have been a poison.”<br/>
<br/>
“I wanted… I wanted to get to know you… to become your friend,” the Gryffindor squeezed his hand gently. “It looked like you needed one…”<br/>
<br/>
“You have a very convoluted definition of friendship, Potter,” the Slytherin smirked.<br/>
<br/>
“I guess…” Harry wasn’t even sure what he wanted from him at the moment, “It is going to get weird, isn’t it?”<br/>
<br/>
“Oh yeah,” Malfoy replied bitterly, “As soon as you come off the Philtre you will start to regret it big time. I suggest we both leave before it happens…”<br/>
<br/>
“Alright…” the Gryffindor stood up, leaving the pleasant veil of the heating charm and looked back at the blonde. He was putting on his cold mask again, closing himself away and showing off his spikes. The cigarette they had shared was stubbed forcibly into the marble bench.<br/>
<br/>
“Goodnight, Malfoy.”<br/>
<br/>
“Goodnight, Potter.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Choices</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, I've decided to progress the plot a bit, don't worry these two won't stay like that for a long time. And Hermione is a badass here and I love her for it :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Harry woke up to a massive headache and sore throat, the only thing he wanted to do is to bury himself back under the covers and stay there forever. He wasn’t ready to face the world after what happened, his mind too shy and too scandalized to replay the events. The boy’s dorm room was blessedly empty and Harry contemplated drifting back to sleep until he felt the edge of his bed dip a little and saw somebody in Gryffindor robes sit next to him.<br/>
<br/>
“Pepper up,” Ginny smiled passing him a cup of steaming potion, “for your cold. Ron told me you didn’t sleep well at night… My fault, we shouldn’t have sat for so long in that courtyard.”<br/>
<br/>
“What are you doing here… aren’t you supposed to be in class?” he mumbled, horrified to see her so oblivious to what actually transpired after she had left that wretched courtyard.<br/>
<br/>
“I had a free period, besides I wanted to make sure you were okay,” she said simply, pressing her lips to his forehead to feel for fever. Ginny noticed a hickey on his neck and smirked, “Didn't know I left it there.”<br/>
<br/>
<em>You didn’t,</em> Harry thought, mortified.<br/>
<br/>
“Are we good, Harry?” she asked him earnestly. “I am sorry if I seemed a bit off the rails recently… It’s just a lot of things going on…”<br/><br/>
“Yeah, tell me about it,” he agreed. “We’re fine, Gin.”<br/>
<br/>
She leaned to kiss him, her long ginger hair tickling his face, smelling like flowery girly shampoo and it was weird and wrong and mechanic for some reason. It sure was different from the way Malfoy had kissed him, the sort of inevitable and demanding domination he possessed over him.<br/>
<br/>
“You’ll catch my cold like that,” Harry tried to joke, unable to respond to her advancements properly.<br/>
<br/>
“Alright, Potter,” she said teasingly. “but you need to get out of your bed soon. Unless you want me to climb in and catch that cold?”<br/>
<br/>
He was taken aback by this shameless flirting and his treacherous body's lack of reaction towards it. He grumbled something inaudible and got up.<br/>
<br/>
No more hiding from the world now. </p>
<p>“What’s a Painless Poppy Philtre, Hermione?” Harry asked when the three of them were sitting together once again in the Potions’ classroom. Malfoy hadn’t shown up for the class that morning, so Hermione was leafing through some brewing books and trying to find a suitable potion for Ron and him to make.<br/>
<br/>
Both of his friend looked at him like he had suddenly grown a second head.<br/>
<br/>
“You’re not planning on brewing that one, are you?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.<br/>
<br/>
“Why not?”<br/>
<br/>
“It’s highly regulated, Harry. Look here,” the girl pointed at the page in one of the textbooks. There weren’t any instructions on how to cook it up, only general information. “The Painless Poppy Philtre is a strong Opium-based sedative, muscle relaxant, and anesthetic potion. Due to its highly addictive nature and various side-effects only a family physician or apothecary can prescribe it.”<br/>
<br/>
“Pureblood Bane, my mom used to call it,” Ron added, “A lot of wizarding families were bonkers over that stuff, back in the day. She said Blacks had liked it too. I kept them from going mad.”<br/>
<br/>
“What do you mean, Ron?” Harry asked.<br/>
<br/>
“It sort of makes you let go a bit… I would want to forget too if I were stuck in an arranged marriage with my cousin or something,” the ginger snickered.<br/>
<br/>
No wonder Malfoy wanted to let go with so many people giving him grief and constantly trying to watch his back with the probation. He remembered those muggle snapshots that were in his godfather’s old school trunk, he was wondering if he too had been trying to forget his family like this and to live freely, do what he wanted… <em>kiss who he wanted.</em><br/>
<br/>
“Do you reckon Sirius was addicted to it?” Harry mused.<br/>
<br/>
“I dunno, mate. Maybe… I would say, it’s not anything one should be taking regularly. Pomphrey would not even give it to any of the students… Trust me, I’ve tried,” Ron said begrudgingly.<br/>
<br/>
“It says side effects... what sort of side effects might there be? Does it make you... do things?” Harry shamefully remembered what happened last night, how he’d gotten off with Malfoy out of all people, how he bloody enjoyed it. He felt so liberated from responsibility, from caring about what others might think. It was a dangerous feeling because he wanted to experience it once more.<br/>
<br/>
“If you’re planning to do drugs, Harry, you might as well start with muggle heroin, it would be less harmful!” Hermione exclaimed, “But no, nothing like that just drowsiness and headaches and whatnot.”<br/>
<br/>
That did not make Harry feel any better. If she had said that it induced euphoria or lust or something, then at least he would know that it was just the potion talking. He put his head on the desk, unable to stop worrying about what happened and how would it affect his and Ginny’s newly reformed relationship. At that moment Harry wanted the earth to open up and swallow him whole.</p><p>* * *</p><p>“Draco, darling, how have you been?” his mother’s face appeared in the Slytherin common room fireplace and he had to look around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping before sitting down on the emerald Persian rug in front of the fire.<br/>
<br/>
“I am fine, mother,” Draco gritted. He didn’t like this constant smothering that Narcissa was prone to.<br/>
<br/>
“I have received the most wonderful news! Do you remember Gareth Greengrass, the Chief Unspeakable? He donates to various charities and he was present at the Halloween event at the St. Barbara’s Orphanage. He was highly impressed with your performance,” his mother spoke excitedly. “The Greengrass family has invited us to their annual Christmas gala. If everything goes well we might be able to secure an engagement with their younger daughter, Astoria. A marvelous young witch she is.”<br/>
<br/>
Draco felt ill. Without his father pestering him about arranging a marriage with some pureblood bint and continuing the family’s legacy, he thought he would be free to pursue whatever future he wanted. But such foolish speculations would lead him nowhere. What future might he have, hiding around, denying rumors? He was already marked, Malfoy’s family fortune confiscated for reparations, it would take a miracle to rebuild what they had lost because of the war. The Greengrass, on the other hand, had bottomless Gringotts vaults and if they were willing to forgive them it would be a chance to once again be at the top of wizarding society.<br/>
<br/>
“Very well, mother,” Draco said. “Tell them I am looking forward to meeting with Astoria.”<br/>
<br/>
“Excellent, I took the liberty of choosing a courting gift for you Draco. It should arrive at the Greengrass residence shortly.” Narcissa beamed at her son.<br/>
<br/>
As soon as his mother’s face disappeared in the flames he decided to get high again. He rummaged through his robes’ inner pocket until he remembered where the second vial had gone. <em>Bloody Potter and his reckless behavior!</em> How could Draco let it get this out of hand? Why didn’t he pushed him away? The answer was quite simple: he didn’t want to, he wanted to see how far the Gryffindor was willing to go and it scared him to think that were they somewhere more secluded he might even shag the git.<br/>
<br/>
He needed extra dose fast, just to stop ruminating over something that shouldn’t have happened. Draco was determined to sneak into Slughorn’s storage once again, he wasn’t sure there would be the Philtre itself, but maybe if he found enough right ingredients.<br/>
<br/>
“Planning to smuggle another love potion to Potter, aren’t you, Malfoy?” he heard a sneering voice behind. He turned around to see Theodore Nott pointing a wand at him, holding up an empty vial from last night, “I saw you two, what a revolting spectacle. But I might say it is rather curious how low you can go, Malfoy.“<br/>
<br/>
“What do you want, Nott?” Draco exhaled tiredly.<br/>
<br/>
“You know I could go straight to McGonagall with this. I wonder what her reaction might be, a Death Eater scum like you drugging her Golden Boy?” the other Slytherin had a shit-eating smirk on his face. “Or maybe I should go to Weasley. It would be amusing to see him beat you into bloody pulp.”<br/>
<br/>
“Nott!” he was losing his self-control.<br/>
<br/>
“What I want is simple: you have something that my uncle would like to have. Vials with memories… does that ring any bells?”<br/>
<br/>
Draco knew exactly what he was talking about.<br/>
<br/>
“You have twenty-four hours to give them to me, otherwise you might start packing your trunk to Azkaban, you traitor!” Nott pointed his wand at him and cried. “<em>Crucio!</em>”<br/>
<br/>
The blonde slid down the potion storage door, torn in agonizing pain. He made himself concentrate on a simple piano melody he always thought of when he had to endure the Curse. The image of black and white keys being pressed rhythmically emerged in his brain and when he opened his eyes the pain was gone and so was the bastard. </p><p> </p><p>He found her at the library, sitting in the Arithmancy section, surrounded by uneven piles of books that were about to tumble down at any moment, her hair a wild mess.<br/>
<br/>
“Granger, I need you to do me a favor!” Draco said quietly, “Before you refuse, I want you to know that it is related to Potter and his safety.”<br/>
<br/>
She looked up at him and quickly cast a privacy charm, before moving all the books aside to listen attentively.<br/>
<br/>
“You have to Obliviate Theodore Nott,” he pleaded, “I know you’re good at memory charms. I have been working together with you for a month.”<br/>
<br/>
“Flattery will not help you, Malfoy,” Granger retorted, crossing her arms, “Why should I do that?”<br/>
<br/>
“Because he knows something about Potter and… I, that might be damaging to his reputation and result in my expulsion,” Draco said hoping she was smart enough to fill in the rest on her own.<br/>
<br/>
“You do realize that I might get into a lot of shite if we get caught…” she whispered.<br/>
<br/>
“That’s why I came to you of all people,” the Slytherin exhaled.<br/>
<br/>
“Alright, but you owe me, Malfoy!” Granger warned him and took out a parchment to dart down their plan.<br/>
<br/>
Draco was grateful for that fabled Gryffindor loyalty that she’d agreed to do it.<br/>
<br/>
“It’s nice to know that not only Slytherins are good at scheming,” he smiled.  </p><p><br/>
<br/>
* * *</p><p> </p><p>	“Harry, I just need to nick some extra books from the library, that’s all!” Hermione was acting strange at that moment when she asked to borrow his Invisibility Cloak, so naturally Harry followed her using the Marauder’s map and a couple of disillusioning charms.<br/>
<br/>
He didn’t feel particularly possessive over the magical item, they had spent many occasions hiding under it together over the years. However her adamant refusal to tell him the real reason behind needing the cloak had urged the stalker in him to creep up to the surface.<br/>
<br/>
What Harry did not expect is to find Hermione’s dot make a sharp detour away from the Library and go down to the dungeons. He saw that she was nearing another label that said Draco Malfoy and was grateful that Ron was too emerged in his chess match to go with him. His friend might try to murder the git. Harry felt some weird sense of foreboding that told him that something fishy was about to happen. Was Malfoy trying to make a move at his friend? <em> Where did that leave them…?</em> He shook his head, banishing the thought.<br/>
<br/>
Harry was close to the potion storage cupboards when he heard Hermione speak:<br/>
<br/>
“Is this where you’re supposed to meet? I will be waiting in this alcove to ambush him, then we leave under the cloak as planned.”<br/>
<br/>
He clenched his fists to stop himself from running up to them and confronting Malfoy about involving Hermione out of all people in some sort of evil scheme. Almost half an hour passed until he saw Theodore Nott walk confidently into the corridor.<br/>
<br/>
“Did you bring it?.. Expelliarmus!”, he called to Malfoy quickly disarming him and then kept walking… until he was pointing a wand at the alcove where Hermione had been waiting, “ Get out of there, Granger! Wand where I can see it!”<br/>
<br/>
Hermione reluctantly left her hiding spot giving Malfoy fearful glance.<br/>
<br/>
“Well, well, Malfoy, making the mudblood do your dirty work? You never cease to amaze me with the level to which you’re willing to sink,” Nott spat, “Does she even know what you’ve done?”<br/>
<br/>
“It is none of her concern, Nott!” Malfoy replied desperately.<br/>
<br/>
“Your loyalties are misplaced here, Granger. If you knew what I know you would join me in cursing him,” he continued still pointing his wand straight at Hermione.<br/>
<br/>
“Leave her alone! I will give you what you want!” the blonde implored.<br/>
<br/>
“What’s the fun in that? Since you’ve brought company... maybe you should share an enlightening tale of how you’ve drugged Potter to his best friend?” Nott asked triumphantly.<br/>
<br/>
“Malfoy?! Is this true?” Hermione asked incredulously.<br/>
<br/>
“So you didn’t know... and yet you’re trying to help this creepy faggot?! Not as bright as you seem, huh, Granger?... Perhaps I should curse you instead and make this wretched coward responsible for it?” Theodore lifted his wand an Unforgivable on his lips.<br/>
<br/>
“Stupefy!” the spell hit Nott in between his shoulder blades with such force that he fell on the floor his nose breaking with a loud crunch.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry! Oh, thank Merlin!”<br/>
<br/>
Harry ran towards them quickly to make sure that Hermione was okay.<br/>
<br/>
“It looks like you needed a backup after all, with all that book stealing,” he smiled at her and crouched down next to Nott to assess the damage. “What are we going to do now?”<br/>
<br/>
“I need him conscious!” Malfoy said quickly coming out of his stupor.<br/>
<br/>
“Okay! Harry, help me pick him up! <em>Incarcerous!</em>”  thick ropes spurred out from Hermione’s wand coiling around the still body.<br/>
<br/>
“Will any of you explain to me what’s going on?!” Harry demanded looking from the Slytherin to his friend.<br/>
<br/>
“Quick, before anybody walks in on us!” Hermione shushed,  “<em>Evenerate!</em>”<br/>
<br/>
“HELP! HELP! HELP ME!” Nott bellowed as soon as he woke up.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh for the love of… <em>Silencio!</em>” the girl huffed and looked expectantly to Malfoy, “Go on, he’s yours.”<br/>
<br/>
The blonde smiled carnivorously and scooted down to their captive’s eye level, “I will need a bit of insurance in case you remember anything and go running to any of the teachers... Don’t try to fight it. As you said I am a Death Eater scum. Legilimens!”<br/>
<br/>
Harry watched as Nott’s eyes became vacant and his strained expression relaxed into an oblivious sort of smile. This lasted for about five minutes, and then Draco stood up, brushing off his knees and nodded to Hermione.<br/>
<br/>
She brought the wand to poor sod’s temple and murmured: “<em>Obliviate!</em>”<br/>
<br/>
At that moment they heard somebody’s steps aproaching them in the dungeon corridor. Hermione quickly dragged the Invisibility Cloak over Malfoy and shoved him towards the alcove.<br/>
<br/>
“What is happening... Granger?! Harry?!” Horace Slughorn looked stunned and visibly disappointed to see both of them standing next to bloodied and tied down Theodore Nott.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>Minerva McGonagall was not surprised to see Harry Potter and Hermione Granger in her office that evening, “I know you’re both trying to protect Mister Malfoy here... but no matter what happened... Vigilante justice is unacceptable! Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense than to curse another student! Where is your wand?”<br/>
<br/>
“I erm… must have lost it when Nott disarmed me…” Hermione said, quickly passing her wand behind her back for Harry to hide. “It is still in the corridor... probably."<br/>
<br/>
“You both have earned yourself detention until Christmas!” the headmistress glanced at them disapprovingly, “50 points from Gryffindor, each! I will make sure to question mister Nott as soon as he gets back from the Infirmary.”<br/>
<br/>
Harry glanced over to Hermione who gave him an apologetic smile. He would never, under the influence of any drug or potion, believe that she would be getting a detention because of Malfoy and be so unabashed about it, but stranger things had happened.<br/>
<br/>
“Did he really drug you?” Hermione asked him when they left the Headmistress office.<br/>
<br/>
“Nah, we just drank some Elixir of Euphoria and that’s about it,” Harry protested feeling heat creeping up on his cheeks at the lie.<br/>
<br/>
“You should be careful next time you decide to do potions with Malfoy... People will talk!” she warned him.<br/>
<br/>
“So wait, you’re not going to scold me for fraternizing with the ferret?” he was surprised by this change of attitude.<br/>
<br/>
“The git’s alright, I guess,” Hermione shrugged. “He was trying to do the right thing. But you need to make sure that he doesn’t get a wrong idea about your… <em>friendship</em> since you’re trying to mend things up with Ginny.”<br/>
<br/>
These words made an uncomfortable feeling of doubt rise in Harry’s chest. Was his friend actually encouraging to choose between his school sweetheart, the sister of his best friend, a perfect, uncomplicated future, and his former nemesis turned what… friend with benefits?... fuck-buddy?<br/>
<br/>
They were at the Portrait of Fat Lady when Malfoy found them. He took off the Invisibility cloak and gave it back to Harry.<br/>
<br/>
“Well, I’ll leave you, lads, to it. Night, Malfoy!” the girl said hastily and went inside the Gryffindor common room.<br/>
<br/>
“Good night, Granger!” the Slytherin called after her, he looked back at Harry. “I need a smoke after all of this! You’re going?”<br/>
<br/>
Harry nodded and followed him away from the Gryffindor Tower.<br/>
<br/>
“She knows?” the Slytherin asked once they were sitting next to the opened stained glass window in one of the more secluded passages.<br/>
<br/>
“She knows,” Harry confirmed gravely.<br/>
<br/>
Malfoy shook his head, hiding his embarrassed face in the palms of his hands and groaned.<br/>
<br/>
“Nott saw us... that’s why I needed Granger’s help. He was trying to blackmail me with it,” the blonde explained.<br/>
<br/>
“Good thing Hermione agreed,” he gave Malfoy a small smile and accepted the cigarette.<br/>
<br/>
“She is brilliant… Granger. You’re lucky to have such a friend” Draco exhaled a puff of smoke and at that moment Harry realized how lonely the Slytherin had been.<br/>
<br/>
There was nobody he could trust or rely on in his own house, his classmates actively turning against him and calling him profanities.<br/>
<br/>
“Malfoy… I know, I’ve king of cocked it up with the whole … erm, whatever happened yesterday... But if you are willing to start over... I don’t mind being your friend,” he said and it felt bitterly unfair to demand it from the person who used to have deeper feelings towards you, or maybe still had… if he somehow managed to fix his lost memories.<br/>
<br/>
“Alright, Potter..." Malfoy smirked and stood up, nearing confused Harry, "But just so we’re clear... I do this only with Pansy and you!”<br/>
<br/>
“Do what?”<br/>
<br/>
The unhinged git flicked the cigarette away and enveloped Harry in a tight hug, resting his chin on top of the dark-haired boy’s head and pressing his body that smelled like that wretched citrusy cologne and tobacco closer.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. The Withdrawal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Draco here is being a bit of a human cat... this is my idea of fluff, folks :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Blimey, Harry! How did Hermione and you manage to get yourself a month of detention?” Ron asked him incredulously, trying to keep his silent <em>Protego</em> long enough.<br/>
<br/>
They were practicing all the N.E.W.T. - related spells in the Defence Against the Dark Arts class. Instead of one teacher a different instructor from DMLE each month was teaching them new incantations and techniques. Auror Proudfoot was supervising today and he divided them into pairs to duel.<br/>
<br/>
“Long story. Nott was plotting something against Malfoy and it was… somehow related to me as well,” Harry threw a successful offensive jinx at Ron, while he was distracted.<br/>
<br/>
“That bloody ferret. First he gets Hermione to brew potions with him and now you get a detention because of him.” said the ginger, giving the Slytherin a nasty glare across the room,  “Not to mention that the git fancied you!”<br/>
<br/>
“He doesn’t know about it,” Harry shushed him. “And I want to keep that way!”<br/>
<br/>
“Do you reckon, if he’s forgotten that he is a poof he might try to make a pass at Hermione? They have been too chummy recently...”<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t think this is something you can forget that easily, Ron,” he replied gravely.<br/>
<br/>
“But I will keep an eye on him, just you know, to be sure,” his friend glared and Malfoy once again.<br/>
<br/>
Then the Slytherin looked at them and mouthed “What?”,  Harry just shrugged.<br/>
<br/>
At the end of their class they all received Pamphlet about Special Auror Training Courses and what knowledge was required for them to be eligible to enter. The Gryffindor was happy to note that most spells were already familiar to him because of the D.A.<br/>
<br/>
“Patronus Charm... I guess some of us can kiss their career goodbye,” Ron mused, going through the booklet.<br/>
<br/>
“Are you talking about Malfoy again?” Harry shook his head. He was trying his best to stay civil with the Slytherin, however, all things considered he should have been trying to keep his distance.<br/>
<br/>
“The tosser is a bit mental, putting his name on the DMLE applicants list. Everyone knows he won’t be able to produce a Patronus,” the ginger snickered.<br/>
<br/>
“What do you mean?” he asked his friend curiously.<br/>
<br/>
“He’s Marked, Harry... Dark wizards aren’t able to cast it. This is what he gets for being in cahoots with old Voldie there.”<br/>
<br/>
“But Snape could do it,” Harry protested. “I remember...”<br/>
<br/>
“Snape turned out to be a good guy, and besides look at him…” Ron gestured to Malfoy sitting alone, rustling through a book angrily. “He is pitiful… I don’t think he’s got any good memories left.”<br/>
<br/>
Another strange pang of guilt made Harry’s stomach feel queasy. It was he, who was responsible for Draco’s memory loss. Maybe there was someone other than him that he’d fancied and had some nice moment with. He felt like he needed to prove Ron wrong or maybe to appease his own conscience. </p><p> </p><p>A white queen was dragging his poor knight to haul off the chessboard. Harry was distracted all evening, losing to Ron miserably. Ginny was working on her essay at the library and Hermione went off to check on the Potions’ project, so it was only boys that were sitting around the fireplace in Gryffindor common room.<br/>
<br/>
Seamus had smuggled some Butterbeer and they were all a bit tipsy by the end of the evening.<br/>
<br/>
“So lads,” the Irish grinned, “Any luck with the fairer sex recently?”<br/>
<br/>
Neville swallowed wrong and was wheezing and coughing at the question.<br/>
<br/>
“Easy there, mate!” Dean flicked his wand freeing his airway.<br/>
<br/>
“Neville here has been making a move at Miss Lovegood if I am not mistaken?” Seamus teased.<br/>
<br/>
“We’re good friends… That’s all,” Neville babbled, looking uncomfortable.<br/>
<br/>
“It looks like me and Seamus are the only single men in here…” Thomas said.<br/>
<br/>
“Hey speak for yourself, I’ve managed to get quite familiar with what’s under Parvati’s robes,” the Irish winked.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh for the love of Merlin… do you have to make it sound so vulgar?” Harry groaned he wasn’t sure he would be able to discuss his abysmal sex life with his dorm-mates.<br/>
<br/>
“You have no problem there, hey Harry.” Dean sniggered. “I saw that hickey you got the other night!”<br/>
<br/>
Fear crept up his spine… What if somebody from Gryffindor noticed them. He couldn’t go Obliviating half the school because he didn’t know how to act around Malfoy without it resulting in some completely insane behavior.<br/>
<br/>
“Hey, lads! It’s my sister you’re badmouthing!” Ron protested.<br/>
<br/>
“I am going to bed…” Harry stood up not willing to continue this discussion any further.<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t forget to use the silencing charm!” Seamus shouted his way and a roar of laughter erupted behind him.<br/>
<br/>
He didn’t know exactly why all this lad-talk made him so queasy. Maybe because he was the least experienced out of the people he knew. Of course, they might have fudged on that a bit, but at least they didn’t have a full-blown sexuality crisis Harry was experiencing. He was never smooth with girls and whenever he fooled around with Ginny it never got far enough. So far the only decent sexual encounter he had had was with Malfoy under the influence of a potion, and it was another can of worms altogether. He was afraid that it made him somehow too weird even for the wizarding society.</p><p><br/>
</p><p> </p><p>“Did you do it though?” Ron woke him up in the middle of the night looking a bit green.<br/>
<br/>
“Do what?..” Harry mumbled sleepily.<br/>
<br/>
“Did you and Ginny… er, did you shag?”<br/>
<br/>
“Ron! Why are you… asking such questions? It is a bit creepy, don’t you think!” he wanted to hide under the covers just to avoid this conversation.<br/>
<br/>
“Well I am your best mate…” the ginger explained. “Mates discuss stuff like that.”<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t feel like talking about it, okay?” Harry replied defensively.<br/>
<br/>
“I dunno if your muggles ever had the talk… but it’s not so different in the wizarding world, I suppose,” his best friend continued.<br/>
<br/>
“Brilliant! Good to know…” the dark-haired boy said sarcastically. “Now can we please stop talking about it…”<br/>
<br/>
“Suit yourself, Harry. But you know it’s okay if you do… I am not going to punch you in the face or something,” Ron mumbled and finally turned away to sleep. </p><p> </p><p>Harry’s back was hurting and his knees were sore from scrubbing the floor like a house-elf. He was serving detention at Slughorn’s that week. He had to clean the spilled potions after the second-year class and it was an arduous task. A couple of cauldrons had exploded leaving nasty goop everywhere and the Vanishing charm wasn’t effective enough so the rest he had to wash by hand. It had eerily reminded Harry of him slaving away in Aunt Petunia’s kitchen.<br/>
<br/>
“You look fetching like that, Potter,” a familiar voice drawled.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh, sod off, will you,” the Gryffindor replied, getting up from the floor. “Came to nick Slughorn’s ingredients again? He is a stingy git... might notice if something had gone missing.”<br/>
<br/>
“Well, it is a risk I am willing to take,” Malfoy sighed melodramatically.<br/>
<br/>
“You should go easy on the potions there… That stuff you’ve been taking is properly dangerous,” Harry was concerned.<br/>
<br/>
“What are you? My mum?” the blonde rolled his eyes and started rummaging through the supply cabinet.<br/>
<br/>
“I am serious, Malfoy. I know what’s it like to always want a drink,” he looked at the Slytherin earnestly. He noticed that Draco’s complexion was even paler than usual, his hair not properly groomed and his eyes darting wildly around the room.<br/>
<br/>
“Listen, I know that we’re sort of mates now and all,” Malfoy started,  “but, Potter, if you want me to keep being civil to you… you need to back off or help me look.”<br/>
<br/>
“There isn’t anything there,” Harry crossed his arms. “Hermione ratted you out to Slughorn and he hid all the dangerous ingredients in his private storage.”<br/>
<br/>
“What! That mud… Muggle-born person!” the blond cursed, “And I thought I could trust her.”<br/>
<br/>
“Malfoy,” the Gryffindor said carefully coming closer to the manic lad. “How about you take a Calming Draught and let it go… “ He placed a steadying hand on the Slytherin’s shoulder.<br/>
<br/>
“Potter… fine, I guess…” he gritted. “Can you stay with me for a bit… until the withdrawal subsides?”<br/>
<br/>
The Slytherin looked afraid and defenseless and so unlike his normal self, something possessive awoke in his chest at the thought of him going through it alone. Ginny was there for him when he was going through it and she even had to amend their Hogsmead get-togethers to a non-alcoholic version.<br/>
<br/>
“What about the cleaning?” Harry smiled.<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t you have a Black’s house-elf working here at Hogwarts…” Malfoy provided. </p><p> </p><p>Dusk was settling down Hogwarts’ grounds, first snowflakes dancing in the cold November air. They were in that secluded passage again, sitting by the big stained-glass window. Malfoy drank the Draught and unceremoniously put his blonde head into the Gryffindor’s lap, closing his eyes and exhaling contently.<br/>
<br/>
“If I start vomiting… don’t take me to Pomfrey, I don’t want to get expelled once she tests me for potion abuse,” Draco warned.<br/>
<br/>
“How long do you reckon it’ll take?” Harry asked, distractedly. Since when did Malfoy become so handsy with him? They were just mates now and he treated him like he was… <em>Pansy</em>? He remembered how the Slytherin was always lounging around with her, letting the girl stroke his hair. Maybe this is what being Malfoy’s friend was like.<br/>
<br/>
“I dunno, probably a couple of months, until I am going to be miserable once again,” the Slytherin replied bitterly.<br/>
<br/>
“Why did you start taking it?”<br/>
<br/>
“First to help with my injuries… and then it kind of became a second nature,” Draco started shivering even more, and he curled his long legs closer to his body for comfort. “Why did you start drinking?”<br/>
<br/>
“To cope, I guess... and then I started fighting with Ginny and it was the only thing that made me forget,” Harry quite liked being this candid with someone. Malfoy was still as snarky and prickly as ever, but somehow he didn’t feel awkward to talk about these things with him. Maybe because they were going through similar experiences.<br/>
<br/>
“Let me guess, Potter, you fought because of me?” the blonde smirked.<br/>
<br/>
“Not only… but yeah, you were mainly the reason.”<br/>
<br/>
“Was there any other reason?” Malfoy murmured, closing his eyes for a bit. The Calming Draught must have started working.<br/>
<br/>
“Er… I am not sure I want to talk about it with you of all people,” Harry sighed, embarrassed.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh come on, Potter... You know I am queer, and you haven’t gone babbling around the school about it,” Malfoy looked up at him, grey eyes serious. “I think, I should be able to return the courtesy.”<br/>
<br/>
“She sort of pressured me into having… er, sex with her. And I wasn’t ready and it kind of went awry from there,” the Gryffindor said, not daring to glance at the Slytherin’s expression.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh,” was a simple reply. Harry was relieved that he hadn’t started mocking him. “Why weren’t you ready?”<br/>
<br/>
“I dunno… the war had barely ended… I had a lot on my mind..”<br/>
<br/>
Sex meant to be something that reminded him that he was alive, that there were still things worth living for. Instead he felt empty and guilty and no amount of pleading and yelling and angry tears could tell him that it was okay to do it when behind his closed eyelids he saw ruins of Hogwarts and blood, and bodies of dead students and people he cared about and couldn't protect.<br/>
<br/>
“Mmm-hmm”<br/>
<br/>
“How did you know… that you were queer?” he asked Malfoy carefully.<br/>
<br/>
“I just did… I’ve never even thought that girls might be attractive or whatnot,” Draco explained. “Have you thought that you might not be completely straight?”<br/>
<br/>
“Er… if you’re talking about that previous incident…”<br/>
<br/>
“For fuck’s sake, Potter… don’t get your wand in a twist, I am asking hypothetically… You’ve made it perfectly clear that you are with the Weaslette now,” Malfoy huffed.<br/>
<br/>
“I haven’t thought about it... much,” Harry replied honestly.<br/>
<br/>
“You don’t have to choose, you know… it’s fine to be whatever, at least for you. You don’t have an obligation to marry some pureblood cunt to breed...”<br/>
<br/>
<em>Could he really be whatever?</em> He wished Sirius was alive so he could talk to him about it. At that moment Harry felt like he was ready to accept the fact that his godfather could have been gay, that he loved someone of the same sex and it was okay, and for him it probably wasn't that big of a deal.<br/>
<br/>
“And you do?” the Gryffindor asked incredulously.<br/>
<br/>
“Yes, my mother has already arranged a betrothal for me,” the blonde grimaced.<br/>
<br/>
“So you’re just going to go along with it?!”<br/>
<br/>
“I am…”<br/>
<br/>
Harry couldn’t believe that he was going to be married off like some sort of sacrificial lamb to do what? Continue cruel and old traditions that were not supposed to matter after Voldemort was defeated. It was more complicated than this, Tom Riddle was just a product of centuries of prejudice. He remembered his bigoted uncle and his obsession with appearing normal and ordinary in front of the neighbors and he felt that those poisonous remarks had left an imprint on his life as well.<br/>
<br/>
“What would you do, if you had a choice?” Harry asked looking at Malfoy intently.<br/>
<br/>
Draco opened his drowsy eyes, a sad smile stretching his lips and he lifted his hand towards the Gryffindor’s cheek, gently moving his fingers over his jawbone.<br/>
<br/>
“This…” he moved up to press his lips to Harry’s for a brief moment and then withdrew putting his head back into another boys’ lap.<br/>
<br/>
“Malfoy… you know that it’s not going to work…”<br/>
<br/>
“Shut up for a moment…” and then he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.  </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>Draco woke up in the Infirmary, his body soaked in a cold sweat, his teeth clacking together from the tremors. Scratchy linen felt like tons of little needles prickling his skin. The symptoms of withdrawal were brutal and he wanted to bash his head over something hard just to fall unconscious and not suffer through it. He noticed a dark shape, curled on the bed across from his, still wearing school robes, glasses askew, the faint glow of Lumos lingering on the tip of the wand.<br/>
<br/>
“I told you not to bring me here, you tosser,” he whispered fondly and tried to make himself comfortable once again.<br/>
<br/>
In the dead of the night, lying in the empty ward Draco allowed himself to stare.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. The Safehouse</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was the last Hogsmeade weekend before Christmas and even strict Headmistress had allowed Harry and Hermione to sit their detention in some other day. So they joined a big crowd of cheerful students wrapped in their colorful scarves and winter robes on their way to Three Broomsticks. Harry was content albeit half-frozen to spend this time with his friends instead of polishing every single part of the castle Filch and random professors saw fit.<br/>
<br/>
He sat in a booth with Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Luna. Dean and Seamus joined them later, generously bringing pints of Butterbeer and some Honeydukes sweets to share. The chatter and laughter of his mates were a bit surreal considering recent headlines that polluted the front pages of the Daily Prophet. There were rumors that Corban Yaxley had resurfaced and had been spotted by the muggle police, who had him on their most wanted list as a part of the cooperation task force with DMLE. The said muggles were found in various states of injury and torture, some of them under the influence of the Imperius Curse.<br/>
<br/>
Harry had reasons to be worried: Narcissa Malfoy had provided a lot of valuable information about Yaxley’s involvement in the Ministry coup. He was a family friend that had sat at dinner parties and even owned some shares in a couple of Malfoy’s business investments. If the bastard was still in England it meant that neither Draco nor Narcissa was safe.<br/>
<br/>
“Why is he lurking about there?” Ron interrupted his thoughts pointing at the fogged-up window. Outside the pub a tall shape of Draco Malfoy wrapped in his expensive fur-lined cloak was standing apprehensively.<br/>
<br/>
“He is not allowed to be in Three Broomsticks anymore, Ronald!” Hermione explained.<br/>
<br/>
“I didn’t know Malfoy was allowed to go into Hogsmeade at all,” Ginny chuckled next to him.<br/>
<br/>
Harry gave her a sharp look and stood up to see what was it all about.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry, where are you going?” his girlfriend called after him.<br/>
<br/>
“The loo,” he lied. “I can get us a refill on my way back.”<br/>
<br/>
“But you’ve barely touched your glass!” Ginny pointed out and Harry shrugged his shoulders picking up his pint of Butterbeer and downing it in one go.<br/>
<br/>
“I will get some more snacks,” Hermione followed him too.<br/>
<br/>
She caught him by the arm as he was about to exit the establishment.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry, don’t! What if Ginny sees you together?” his friend protested.<br/>
<br/>
“I am just trying to make sure he is okay after getting off the potion!” Harry grumbled.<br/>
<br/>
“As if you weren’t sneaking away every night to check on him in the hospital wing,” Hermione deadpanned.<br/>
<br/>
“How did you…” he thought he had been careful, always going out when everyone in his dorm room was sleeping deeply and not letting Malfoy notice him either. He wasn’t sure the Slytherin would appreciate seeing him after Harry did exactly what he forbade him to do: take him to Pomfrey.<br/>
<br/>
“I am not stupid, Harry! And Ginny isn’t either. You cannot keep this charade for much longer. Being Malfoy’s friend is one thing, obsessing over him like you do is quite another.” Hermione was unswayed.<br/>
<br/>
“I am not obsessed, and me and Ginny are fine!”<br/>
<br/>
“Yeah… but why does she keeps complaining to me that when you two are together your thoughts are elsewhere?” his friend was looking at him worryingly and it made Harry feel really guilty.<br/>
<br/>
He just didn’t know what was wrong, he couldn’t just forget about rogue Death Eaters still not being caught and about Malfoy trying to cope with his potion addiction. And somehow there wasn’t any space left in his head for his relationship with Ginny.<br/>
<br/>
“Fine!” Harry exhaled, he went up to the bartender to get some more refreshments, and the next time he looked out of the window the Slytherin was gone.<br/>
<br/>
On their way back he saw Malfoy being dragged back to the castle by scandalized looking McGonagall. He was not allowed to go to Hogsmeade after all. </p><p>* * *</p><p>Draco was sitting on the snow-covered bleachers, cigarette firmly gripped in his cold fingers. The Quidditch pitch was still under the reconstruction so no games or trainings were conducted here. It was a perfect place to be if you wanted to avoid everyone.<br/>
<br/>
He had gotten the news that his mother was taken into protective custody after Yaxley was spotted in Birmingham. They didn’t even have time to talk properly when it happened and he wasn’t allowed to send her any owls. Draco foolishly thought that trying to catch Potter somewhere and ask him to bend the rules a little bit was a good way to go. But when he saw them all, laughing and being merry with the Weaslette in Hogsmeade, he wasn’t sure he needed to even bother with the git anymore.<br/>
<br/>
It was painful to realize that Potter was the one that Draco fancied all along and he had been almost certain about it. And the bastard would just let him flirt and hug and touch him as though he and the Weasel were doing that as best mates all the time. He had heard the rustle of the Invisibility Cloak during the nights he spent in the Infirmary and Draco could have sworn that it was some sort of auditory hallucination if not for the fact that he was painfully sober and hyperaware.<br/>
<br/>
“Fancy meeting you here, Malfoy!” he heard a voice somewhere up in the snowy sky.<br/>
<br/>
“Leave me alone, traitor!” Draco shouted to the hooded figure riding the broomstick in such a weather.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh, come on… I was trying to help you!” Potter said, nearing the stands and hopped off his broom in front of the blonde. “What are you doing here?”<br/>
<br/>
“Avoiding you!” the Slytherin said, “How do you always know where I am? It is beyond disturbing.”<br/>
<br/>
“You looked like you wanted to talk to me,” Harry cleared out a bit of space on the bench beside him and recast the heating charm once again. “I saw you near the Three Broomsticks.”<br/>
<br/>
“The Aurors got my mother… “ Draco confessed, “They say it’s for her safety and that as soon as they catch Yaxley she would be free to go. But I am worried about her… They wouldn’t even let me owl her!”<br/>
<br/>
“What can I do?” the Gryffindor asked quickly, ever the Savior.<br/>
<br/>
“I would like a visitation... just once... before Christmas. It will be the first one without Father and I thought…”<br/>
<br/>
Warm fingers squeezed his hand sympathetically and Potter nodded.<br/>
<br/>
“Thanks, Potter,” Draco said quietly.<br/>
<br/>
They lapsed into silence, watching the snow leisurely fall to the ground around them. In the distance, Hogwarts was a grey and lonely shape amidst all the white.<br/>
<br/>
“If you hate Aurors that much, why do you want to be one of them?” Potter asked after a while. “You signed up for the Training Programme.”<br/>
<br/>
“I hate the two-faced bastards like Robards who think their shit doesn’t stink!” The Slytherin replied, kicking a bit of snow off the bench in front of him. “I kind of want to prove them wrong by being there! By showing that a Death Eater scum like me can also make a good Auror!”<br/>
<br/>
“That’s great!” the Gryffindor smiled “It means we will train together!”<br/>
<br/>
“If I get into the Programme, of course,” Draco said bitterly.<br/>
<br/>
“You need to be able to produce a Patronus. Can you do it?”<br/>
<br/>
“I used to know how, but it only looks like that…” the blonde took out his wand and spelled a whiff of silvery smoke into the air.<br/>
<br/>
“That’s still impressive, Malfoy, and I reckoned you…”<br/>
<br/>
“What?! That since I am Marked the maggots will devour my flesh if I try casting one?!” Draco gritted defensively.<br/>
<br/>
He remembered the first time he was able to do it, hiding in the Hogwarts alcove from Carrows, trying his best to find some cheerful thoughts in his depressed brain. His Dark Mark started to hurt when he finally managed to produce a Patronus, it felt like his skin was being peeled off his left forearm, but Draco for the first time in a while felt happiness and hope that those dark times would pass.<br/>
<br/>
“No… I didn’t mean it. It’s quite complicated magic,” Potter mumbled, embarrassed.<br/>
<br/>
“Alright…” the blonde stood up, shaking the snow off his winter robes, “You should probably go, don’t let the Weaselette worry too much.”</p><p>* * *</p><p>The red locomotive was moving along the tracks, leaving a trail of smoke, a crimson line in the endless field of white.<br/>
<br/>
He was sitting alone in the compartment, his cheek resting on the glass, feeling anxiety make his heart beat faster the closer they came to London. Draco was supposed to meet with Potter right after they arrive. He promised to persuade Williamson to take them to the safehouse his mother was in.<br/>
<br/>
He saw a bushy-haired head pop into his secluded space and look at him worryingly.<br/>
<br/>
“Hey, Malfoy? You alright?” Granger asked, getting inside.<br/>
<br/>
“Peachy!” was his sarcastic response.<br/>
<br/>
“I’ve brought a bit of our Memory Restoring Elixir for you,” she said, handing him a vial with a potion.<br/>
<br/>
“Thanks, Granger, but I don’t think it is much of use to me anymore,” Draco twirled the glass in his hand.<br/>
<br/>
“But we’ve been working so hard on it…” she bit her lip, “Keep it anyway, maybe one day it will be handy!”<br/>
<br/>
He shrugged. He already knew what he meant to remember, and that realization did not help him have some peace of mind at all.<br/>
<br/>
“I bet you are excited about your parents having all their memories back,” the blonde mused.<br/>
<br/>
It was the main reason they both agreed to take up that project in the first place. Granger told him how she had to Obliviate her parents to keep them safe and perhaps at that moment she stopped being a stuck-up know-it-all for Draco and became a real person. He could not imagine what it was like to know that your loved ones are still alive but have no idea about your existence.<br/>
<br/>
“I am,” the girl agreed. “You know, Malfoy… We can still be friends even though we don’t work on the same project together.”<br/>
<br/>
“And get in trouble with one more Weasley?” he let out a short laugh.<br/>
<br/>
“Have a lot of that going on, don’t you?” Granger winked knowingly. “You really fancy him… Harry.”<br/>
<br/>
“That doesn’t matter,” Draco replied.<br/>
<br/>
“Well, I am tired of trying to save whatever nonsense is happening between him and Ginny… so who knows, maybe you have a chance.”<br/>
<br/>
She was a bit barmy at that moment. What was she even suggesting? To forget about his family responsibility and about the fact that Potter was trying his best to seem straight and pursue whatever strange relationship was between them. It was a recipe for a disaster, public ridicule, and a broken heart.<br/>
<br/>
“Choice is yours, Malfoy,” Granger finally said, getting up to leave. “I think Harry is too deep in denial to make any first moves.”<br/>
<br/>
“Thanks, Granger… for being a friend to me,” Draco called after her quietly.<br/>
<br/>
She gave him one of those wide sincere smiles that Gryffindors only show each other. </p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p>They were outside the visitor entrance to the Ministry of Magic disguised as a simple telephone booth. Harry looked at Malfoy who was wearing his poshest and the most inauspicious muggle suit ever, a bouquet of bright Christmassy flowers in his hands and a strained expression on his face.<br/>
<br/>
“Relax, Malfoy... Kingsley assured me that it’ll be fine,” he tried to cheer him up a little. It didn’t seem to work much.<br/>
<br/>
They got into the booth, too close to each other for Harry’s comfort and he quickly put in a coin into the telephone and pressed the code.<br/>
<br/>
Auror Williamson had already been waiting for them in the Artium next to the elevators. There were surprisingly few people walking around the hall, mostly because it was later in the evening since they went there straight from the Hogwarts Express.<br/>
<br/>
“Mister Potter, Mister Malfoy, you need to hurry,” the man said urgently. “The Portkey is going to go off in ten minutes. Follow me!”<br/>
<br/>
Level Two looked deserted, there was only a night watcher at the post and he was sleeping merrily, his nose buried in a raunchy wizarding romance novel. Williamson opened the  Head Auror office and gestured towards a can of sardines that was on the desk.<br/>
<br/>
“Where is everybody?” Harry asked.<br/>
<br/>
It eerily reminded him of the time they broke into the Department of Mysteries, of course after that the Ministry had enforced its security system.<br/>
<br/>
“It is Christmas, mister Potter, everyone wants to be with their families,” the Auror smiled and they hall put their hands on the can.<br/>
<br/>
In a few seconds, the world whirled around them and they appeared inside a small but smartly furnished flat.<br/>
<br/>
“Draco? Darling, is that you?” Narcissa called from another room and then she came into the hall, dropping everything she had in her hards and embracing her son tightly.<br/>
<br/>
Harry had never seen Malfoys behave like that, they usually looked completely composed and proper and devout of emotions.<br/>
<br/>
“Thank you, Mister Potter,” the lady said looking at him earnestly, “Gentlemen, would you like some tea?”<br/>
<br/>
He didn’t know what to do with his hands, trying not to make a fool of himself in front of Mrs. Malfoy was quite a challenge. She was sitting on the settee close to Draco and whispering something to him in a worried voice. They looked very similar both blonde and slim with long limbs and delicate aristocratic features. Williamson was paying no mind to them, devouring the whole dish of biscuits instead.<br/>
<br/>
“How is school for you this year, Mister Potter?” Narcissa asked him at last, studying his awfully inappropriate muggle jeans and a Weasley sweater with a hint of interest.<br/>
<br/>
Harry was about to engage in some awkward small talk when the fireplace in the sitting room roared to life with green flames. Auror Proudfoot stepped out of the fire, his wand ready, and looked around the room incredulously.<br/>
<br/>
“Williamson! What are you bloody doing here? You don’t have the security clearance!” the Auror called.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Petrificus Totalus!</em>”<br/>
<br/>
The dish of biscuits fell to the floor, breaking into little shards of porcelain, Proudfoot was lying on the floor in a stupor and Oliver Williamson stood up pointing his wand at the Malfoys.<br/>
<br/>
“As touching as this reunion is, I simply cannot let you out alive!” he smirked unlike himself and Harry understood that his suspicions were correct.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Expelliarmus!</em>” he cried but the Auror simply shielded himself from the attack.<br/>
<br/>
“Draco! Your wand!” Harry shouted, dodging a hex that was about to hit him.<br/>
<br/>
The blonde quickly spurred to action, attacking the imposter. They were standing together dueling the man, their spells flying every which way and destroying the beautiful sitting room.<br/>
<br/>
“Mum! The floo!” Malfoy urged to Narcissa throwing particularly nasty jinx to distract   Williamson away from the fireplace. “Go to aunt Andromeda! Quick!”<br/>
<br/>
The flames roared again and Mrs. Malfoy was out of sight. Williamson threw a slicing curse at the blonde it hit his shoulder and he yelled out in pain, clutching his forearm. Harry aimed his spell and the television behind the fake Auror exploded raining glass and bits of plastic everywhere. He used this as a distraction and dragged Malfoy into the corridor, throwing a couple of hexes to keep off Williamson.<br/>
<br/>
“We need to get out of here!” Harry bellowed.<br/>
<br/>
The safehouse was likely to have all sorts of anti-apparition wards and whatnot and the Slytherin was injured the only thing they could do is to get out of the building the muggle way.<br/>
<br/>
“Malfoy, look around for the keys!”<br/>
<br/>
“What?!”<br/>
<br/>
“The keys, the muggle keys… they’re usually somewhere in the corridor!” he levitated the dresser and made a makeshift barricade out of it, while Draco was frantically rummaging through drawers in search of the object.<br/>
<br/>
“Hurry!” Harry screamed as Williamson got into the corridor and was throwing a curse after curse at them.<br/>
<br/>
“Got it!” Malfoy exclaimed and after a minute of fumbling they were outside the muggle block of flats, wards ringing in their ears.<br/>
<br/>
Harry did not know how they managed to get out of there alive, but somehow they did and despite a few minor injuries and a nasty gash in Draco’s shoulder they were mostly in one piece.<br/>
<br/>
“Where should we go then?!” the blonde asked, he murmured a quick healing charm to stop the wound in his arm from bleeding.<br/>
<br/>
“My place”, Harry suggested as they started to ascend the narrow street among muggle apartment buildings. “You are injured, you need some potions!”<br/>
<br/>
“And how do we get there?” the Slytherin asked.  “I cannot Apparate... they’ll know where I am and I will get arrested!”<br/>
<br/>
“The Underground!” he pointed to the red neon sign glistening in the distance.</p><p><br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>There is going to be some action in the next chapter if you know what I mean, stay tuned :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Expecto Patronum</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have decided to update this chapter a bit more so if you read previous version it is a good idea to reread the last half of it.<br/>I wanted a bit more drama and a bit more memory sequences here.<br/>Hope you still like it, though :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They barely made it on the last train. Without any muggle money Harry had to cast some Confundus charm on the station employee, and then they jumped the turnstile. Malfoy looked sickly and his arm started bleeding again as they rushed into a half-empty train car.<br/>
<br/>
The people looked at them funny and Harry could understand that they were quite a sight with blood covering their clothes and scratches on their faces and hands.<br/>
<br/>
“Hold on, Malfoy, I cannot use magic in front of so many muggles,” he whispered to the blonde who clenched his teeth and tried not to faint.<br/>
<br/>
The events of their lucky escape were still replaying in his head, Williamson must have been bewitched or it wasn’t the Auror after all. They were not a bad team, he and Malfoy when their wands were not pointed at each other. They fought together in the same rhythm, the choice of spell was completely different, but the way both of them had some inexplicable understanding what to do next was exhilarating. Maybe if they got into the Auror training together they might make a nice team.<br/>
<br/>
It was past midnight when they neared the Grimmauld Place, Harry half-dragged Malfoy to the building. Once they were inside he cast all the protective spells he needed and hurried to the parlor to assist the Slytherin with his injuries. He Accioed some Essence of Dittany and Blood Replenishing Potion and fed them to Draco.<br/>
<br/>
“Are you alright?” Harry shook him gently and the grey eyes opened slowly.<br/>
<br/>
“I’m still in pain…” the blonde answered. “need the Poppy.”<br/>
<br/>
“Well, I don’t have any,” he said hotly, “Come on, let’s get you changed, your clothes are soaked in blood…”<br/>
<br/>
Harry reached out to unbutton his shirt but long fingers stopped him and Draco looked at him intently.<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t…” he whispered.<br/>
<br/>
“Right… I am going to bring you a change of clothes or something,” the Gryffindor stood up quickly and went up the stairs to fetch something to wear and stop thinking about shirtless Malfoy.<br/>
<br/>
When he came back with the best flannel shirt he could find in his possession and a navy-blue Weasley sweater he saw that Draco asleep on the sofa, his long legs dangling off the side and a bloodied garment lying on the floor. Then Harry understood why he was so reluctant to show his chest: faint scars were stretching from his ribs to his collarbone.<br/>
<br/>
I did this. It is my fault, he thought miserably, overwhelmed by guilt.<br/>
<br/>
The blonde murmured something in his sleep and his body started to shiver. Blood Replenishing Potion could induce fever so Harry summoned a couple of blankets and covered him with them. He sat down on a Persian rug next to the settee and exhaled tiredly, it was an overwhelming day and he wanted to make sure everyone was okay.<br/>
<br/>
Harry decided to cast a Patronus to notify Andromeda and Narcissa that they were fine, he pronounced the familiar incantation but something strange happened: instead of a silvery stag his wand produced some small animal, it looked like a coyote or a fox of some sort. He watched the creature bouncing around the drawing-room in a slight stupor. <em>Whose Patronus was that?</em> His gaze traveled to the sofa behind him and a blonde head buried under the covers.<br/>
<br/>
<em>Surely it can’t be…</em><br/>
<br/>
Harry tried to concentrate again on casting a stag but the animal was there, it was very odd, it was almost laughable how stupid he seemed to himself. He remembered how Tonks’ Patronus turned to a wolf when she was in love with Remus. <em>In love…</em> Who was he in love with then? It can’t have been Ginny, he liked her, he wanted things to work out with her, but Harry couldn’t call it love. Did somebody put some love potion into his drink or food? It was insane to even think that. He got angry but decided to send the wretched spirit anyway whatever shape it might have been.</p><p>* * *</p><p>Draco woke up sometime during the night, he felt too hot and smothered by a heap of covers thrown over him. He saw Potter’s head slumped on the sofa beside him, the idiot was dozing off in a sitting position, crouched on the floor, still wearing the same sweater from last night. Was he really there watching over him? The Slytherin realized that he was naked from the waist up and belatedly noticed a new change of clothes put on top of the blankets. He suspected that this place was an old Black residence, modernized and made to look like an exceptionally dull muggle house. The furniture and magical objects were still there but there was a muggle screen, a telephone, and electric lamps everywhere. He could say that it looked cozy and the creepy atmosphere that a lot of wizarding houses possessed was gone and replaced by that strange wizarding and muggle blend that was Potter himself.<br/>
<br/>
This house should have had plenty of bedrooms so he might as well move the Gryffindor to one of them, he tried levitating the sleeping sod but his wand hand was still throbbing and he couldn’t concentrate his foggy feverish mind on doing so. Draco finally gave up, mustering enough strength to drag the boy onto the sofa next to him. They were way to close and Potter’s sweater was scratchy with stains of dry blood on it, but he wrapped his arm around him and buried his nose in messy locks at the nape of his neck. For just a little bit he wanted to pretend that they were like this together by choice and not because of some fucked up circumstances.<br/>
<br/>
The git woke up, turned his head around to look at him with unfocused confused bloody beautiful eyes, and sighed, snuggling closer and nodding off once again. After that Draco couldn’t get a wink of sleep, his heart in his mouth, and his body painfully aware of all the places they pressed together on that godforsaken sofa. </p><p>* * *</p><p>He found him in the kitchen the next morning, with no spectacles, damp hair, and pensive expression on his face. The smell of muggle shampoo, bacon, and eggs and freshly brewed tea lingering in the cold air.<br/>
<br/>
“Morning,” Potter smiled, looking strangely out of sorts. “Are you alright?”<br/>
<br/>
“Marvelous” Draco drawled, sitting next to him and stealing a sandwich out of his plate unceremoniously.<br/>
<br/>
“Hey, I’ve made you some too,” he protested. The Gryffindor poured him some tea and gave him a strange muggle device that looked like a wand made of glass with a silvery substance inside. “You need to measure your body temperature. Here is the thermometer.”<br/>
<br/>
“There is a spell for that, you know. And does that thing have mercury in it?! You know you can get mercury poisoning… those muggles are completely loony!” Draco said eyeing the object suspiciously.<br/>
<br/>
“Well, I am not exactly a Healer and you looked like shit last night… so put it under your armpit and stay still for a bit!” he instructed him.<br/>
<br/>
So the Slytherin sat there like an idiot holding a glass tube with a dangerous chemical for what it felt like forever until Potter was finally satisfied and took it away to look at the numbers on the scale. A cold hand felt his forehead and when the git wasn’t pleased with that a cheek was pressed there and then his lips.<br/>
<br/>
“It seems... y-you still have a slight fever.” the Gryffindor babbled and then he summoned a white bag with a red cross on it and took out two small tablets for him to take.<br/>
<br/>
“I am not consuming any more of your muggle nonsense! Just find me my Poppy potion! It’s Blacks’ house there has got to be a stash somewhere!” he demanded.<br/>
<br/>
“There isn’t anymore. I threw all the dark arts-related tat away! And I am not feeding your addiction, so take the goddamn pills and stop pissing me off!” Potter looked all worked up about it like he was actually worried about Draco.<br/>
<br/>
He glared at him maliciously but took the medicine anyway.<br/>
<br/>
“Do you have any clue why Williamson might want to attack you. He was your probation officer?” Potter was all business after that.<br/>
<br/>
“No… Somebody must have cursed him. You didn’t look surprised at all though,” the blonde noted.<br/>
<br/>
“There was some information in the Quibbler that Williamson was missing, his mum said she hasn’t seen him since the war started but as I heard that they had a strained relationship I kind of dismissed it.” the Gryffindor explained.<br/>
<br/>
“Your spying on me has reached new levels of disturbance,” Draco shook his head.<br/>
<br/>
“I was just… worried,” the git grumbled.<br/>
<br/>
“Well, you weren’t’ wrong. The bastard must be connected to Yaxley somehow, he wants revenge and information. He sent Nott to blackmail me because of that,” the Slytherin said.<br/>
<br/>
“That’s what you saw when you used the Legillimency spell on him?”<br/>
<br/>
“Oh, you can see plenty of things if you know where to look,” he looked at Potter intently. “Remember the vial with a memory that you gave me. You thought it was mine… It wasn’t. It was a dossier of some sort about you. I think that girl Baelish made a bunch of those on all the people she had to deal with and Yaxley wants them desperately. That is what I’ve gathered so far.”<br/>
<br/>
Harry was gaping at him his face beet red and eyes big as two saucers.<br/>
<br/>
“What did you… Did you look at… it? Why didn’t you tell me…” he was babbling and it was a bit amusing if not for the fact that the sod might try to strangle him after that.<br/>
<br/>
“I did,” Draco confirmed. ”I thought it was mine… You have nothing to worry about, Potter. I have kept plenty of secrets before... and it’s not like I didn’t know stuff about you already.”<br/>
<br/>
“What stuff?!” the Gryffindor was getting defensive. “You have to tell me what you saw!”<br/>
<br/>
“Veron Duddley… that was you, wasn’t it?” Draco chuckled “You came in the disguise of a random bloke you’d hooked up with and called yourself the names of the muggle relatives that hated your guts.”<br/>
<br/>
“I…” the poor sod was rendered speechless.<br/>
<br/>
“And just so you know, Potter, you are as straight as I am and it is embarrassing to see you deny it,” the blonde was tired of that little dance they had around each other and the words of encouragement from Granger made him bold and reckless in that situation.<br/>
<br/>
“So… what are you trying to say here, Malfoy?!” he looked properly angry and unguarded by glasses his gaze was piercing and desperate.<br/>
<br/>
“I am trying to say that you probably really want to shag me but all that stupid shit you’ve been hearing for years is stopping you, and it is a shame really…” Draco said cruelly, he wanted to provoke the git to make him do something, to cross that invisible line. “I don’t need a Legillimency spell to see that you are a self-loathing little coward! I might have to fake a marriage in the future but I have no delusions about what I am!”<br/>
<br/>
He expected a punch, he expected a painful shove or a slap he did not expect Potter to break down into sobs in front of him. He was there in his stupid muggle rags with his stupid attractive face and soft hair crying his eyes out over something that he couldn’t control.<br/>
<br/>
“Potter… Harry… I am sorry” Draco whispered carefully, taking him into his arms and trying to calm him down. The Savior of the wizarding word shouldn’t be doing that, he should be brave and courageous and not consumed by self-loathing and guilt, and he probably shouldn’t be queer either, but there they were.<br/>
<br/>
“I… think… I might,” he babbled into Draco’s shirt.<br/>
<br/>
“It’s fine… don’t say anything while you’re upset. I am not going to pressure you into anything… You’re fine,” the blonde was rubbing soothing circles on his back and he desperately needed a smoke a drink or a potion, because one cannot cock things up as massively as he had just then.<br/>
<br/>
“Mate, you’re in there?!... What the hell?!” Weasley was standing there with a big fur tree under his arm, a box of Christmas ornaments that had been levitating in the air before fell to the floor.<br/>
<br/>
“Ron… Shit, Ron… is Ginny inside too?” Potter exclaimed not leaving a protective circle of Draco’s embrace.<br/>
<br/>
“Luckily, she isn’t… What is going on! Why are you… and the ferret… Were you going behind my sister’s back all this time?!” ginger’s voice was getting higher with every sentence he screamed.<br/>
<br/>
“I will explain everything when we are in the Burrow,” Harry said finally letting go of the Slytherin and hastily wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his jumper.<br/>
<br/>
“Why is he here?!” Weasley demanded, giving Draco the nastiest glare he could muster.<br/>
<br/>
“We were attacked! At Narcissa’s safe house. And Draco was injured, so I had to take him in,” Potter started explaining, he was trying to spell the broken baubles back together but his hands were shaky and the glass just didn’t want to mend itself.<br/>
<br/>
“So he is Draco now,” ginger groaned.<br/>
<br/>
“Weasley! Would you shut your homophobic mouth up for a moment!” the Slytherin gritted dangerously. “We need to figure out how did Yaxley manage to get so close to the Ministry’s business and your accusations are not helping the matter!”<br/>
<br/>
They spend most of the morning exchanging ideas and theories about the Death Eater’s plan and when it was time for lunch Weasley was smart to decide to leave them alone.<br/>
<br/>
“I am going to need a lot of explanation from you, Harry,” he said before stepping out into the fireplace. “And you, Malfoy… you are lucky there is a maniac on the loose after your head and not my sister!”<br/>
<br/>
“That went swimmingly,” Draco said sarcastically. “Alright, I need to be at Hogwarts for the holidays so… Potter, thank you for not leaving me to bleed, and good luck with your crisis.”<br/>
<br/>
The Gryffindor looked at him as though he announced that Christmas was canceled and he was solely responsible for it.<br/>
<br/>
“Please, stay… There is a tree to trim… and all the ornaments are shattered. You are good at repairing stuff, aren’t you?” Harry said quietly giving him a lopsided grin.<br/>
<br/>
He remembered that year during the war he had spent trying to fix a Vanishing Cabinet, that ultimately led to Death Eaters in Hogwarts and Dumbledore being dead and that joke was as inappropriate as all this situation altogether.<br/>
<br/>
“Block the floo, for Merlin’s sake. I don’t want a Weasley squad in here trying to murder me for corrupting their future son-in-law.” the Slytherin rolled his eyes. </p><p>* * *</p><p>Harry spent a surprisingly pleasant day decorating the Grimmauld place for Christmas, Malfoy wasn’t giving him any grief after his earlier outburst and his anxiety about dealing with his friends and Ginny was slowly ebbing away. The only thing that was not going anywhere is a tense sort of atmosphere between them, they accidentally touched hands too often and their glances lingered too long on each other.<br/>
<br/>
Draco was charming the garland for the mantlepiece when all Harry’s self-control went out of the window.<br/>
<br/>
“You were right…” he started, earning a questioning look from the blonde. “I was in denial. I am probably as bent as you are… and I wouldn’t mind… er, doing things with you.”<br/>
<br/>
“What sort of things?” Malfoy cocked an eyebrow at him.<br/>
<br/>
“A lot of things…” Harry exhaled and then he was next to the Slytherin, his hands on his neck and in his hair, leaning up to meet his lips.<br/>
<br/>
“Are you sure about this?” Draco murmured not yet answering his advances.<br/>
<br/>
The dark-haired boy nodded and finally they were kissing. Malfoy maneuvered them away from the fireplace and they ended up tumbling down on the sofa in the heap of tangled limbs and hot mouths exploring each other. It felt so right, so certain for Harry, he had never kissed anyone like that before. All his apprehensions about it being wrong an unnatural were gone and replaced by the overwhelming desire.<br/>
<br/>
He felt cold fingers on his ribs and a hot breath on his neck as Draco started undressing him. Harry reached out to take off the blonde’s shirt and he let him this time, looking a bit shy but his hands never stopping their explorations.<br/>
<br/>
“I am sorry... for hurting you then,” the Gryffindor whispered and reached out to trace the biggest scar on Malfoy’s chest with his trembling fingers.<br/>
<br/>
“It was in a different time,” he gave him a small smile taking his hand and kissing the knuckles.<br/>
<br/>
Harry was pressed into the sofa’s cushions, the Slytherin hovering over him, trailing kisses over his neck down his chest, over his abdomen and then he felt his jeans were unceremoniously pulled down to his ankles.<br/>
<br/>
“Can I suck you off?” the blonde asked provocatively.<br/>
<br/>
“Er… I’ve never…” Harry babbled.<br/>
<br/>
“I know you’re the blushing virgin here…” Malfoy teased, “just relax… you don’t have to worry about anything...”<br/>
<br/>
“Alright…” and then he really needed not to worry about anything, the only thing he was worried is not too come straight away like a bloody amateur that he was.<br/>
<br/>
It felt incredible, not that Harry had anything to compare to but just the sight of Draco’s head between his legs doing inexplicable things with his mouth was intoxicating. It didn’t take him long to come and it happened a bit too sudden for him to warn the blonde.<br/>
<br/>
Malfoy rose, a carnivorous smirk on his lips, and then he was kissing him again, shoving his tongue into Harry’s mouth to let him know exactly how it tasted.<br/>
<br/>
“Should I… return the favor?” the dark-haired lad suggested after they broke off.<br/>
<br/>
“Are you feeling brave enough for it?” Draco asked.<br/>
<br/>
“I dunno…”<br/>
<br/>
“Then your hand is fine… make me come… Harry” the request sent shivers down his spine and he reached out to take Malfoy’s cock into his fist and started moving.<br/>
<br/>
The Slytherin was looking at him intensely, his face earnest, his pupils all-consuming dark surrounded by a faint ring of grey. He was eerily handsome, his pale skin flushed in the tones of pink, his always impeccable hair a mess, and his thin mouth open and panting. There wasn’t a person at that moment Harry had wanted more. He wanted Draco to take him to consume him to show him exactly what he was missing and the feeling made his head spin.<br/>
<br/>
The blonde came with the strangled sob, leaving Harry’s hand and his stomach covered in semen.<br/>
<br/>
“Still think you’re straight, eh, Potter?” Malfoy asked breathlessly looking down at him.<br/>
<br/>
“Not one goddamn bit,” the Gryffindor smiled.</p><p>* * *</p><p>“Draco, sweetheart, what do you think of emerald robes?” his mother asked and a small man with pencil mustache brought a heap of silk in rich green embroidered with silver thread.<br/>
<br/>
....Emerald… Potter’s eyes when he orgasms are wet and bright and full of lust for him. His body is a map of scars and burns and remains of evil curses but he is perfect nevertheless...<br/>
<br/>
“Or maybe a more traditional black? Mister Malfoy,” the tailor suggested.<br/>
<br/>
.... Black... Black hair sticking out every which way… he likes holding it in his fingers when Potter gives him head… and then he smiles like he has just tamed a dragon… toothy disgustingly sweet Gryffindor grin Draco knows he doesn’t deserve…<br/>
<br/>
“I think burgundy is a bit too much for your complexion, don’t you agree?” the woman takes the yard of dyed cashmere away from his shoulder.<br/>
<br/>
...Burgundy… the drapes on the four-posted bed are dark red just like back at Hogwarts… it’s Potter’s bedroom… his bed is completely unmade… they breathe heavily after another round of fooling around… he doesn’t let him go all the way but whatever they do still feels brilliant… <em>I want to stay likes this forever</em>, he exhales a secret over Draco’s ear, and after that he is asleep…<br/>
<br/>
“That’s lovely, thank you very much,” Narcissa smiled giving the tailor a small fortune in Galleons.<br/>
<br/>
He had left like a coward in the night. He took Potter’s ghastly jumper with a golden letter H on the front, Scourgified his shirt clean from blood, and got dressed. All the ride to his aunt's place in the Knight Bus he thought of Potter calling him Draco, he thought of how fiercely he clung to him, his fingers leaving bruises on pale skin, he thought that he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself, that whenever he would have to do his marital duty he would think of Potter.<br/>
<br/>
The reason why he left was simple - he was about to be engaged to Astoria Greengrass, a perfect match from a respectable and wealthy pureblood family. That was what his mother would want for him, and Draco had given her enough grief not to fulfill his filial duty.<br/>
<br/>
As much as he wanted to kid himself and think that these few days he spent perverting Potter would last, he was delusional. And cruel, extremely cruel. Potter had almost let him fuck him, the idiot. He almost took it away from the Gryffindor. His precious innocence. Such things create magical bonds in the wizarding world, they connect people as much as those horny teenagers would want to think otherwise.<br/>
<br/>
His aunt saw him cry the previous night. She watched him bury his nose in that ugly sweater and sob like he never did during the war. Andromeda told him a story of how her sister, Bellatrix, had wept before her betrothal to Rodolphus Lestrange.<br/>
<br/>
“It is rare for a Black not to cry before getting a match for marriage,” she said soothingly and patted his blonde head. “You have to be a man in this situation… or you can always do what I did.”<br/>
<br/>
Her smile made his insides churn with anxiety. Her name was scorched away from the family tree after she had run away with that muggle-born. How could his aunt suggest something like that?<br/>
<br/>
Draco walked around the house like a ghost, not noticing the furniture, not listening when he was spoken to, not eating meals, not breathing. His only reprieve was watching his little cousin play. That child would always change his hair to blonde when he picked him up. Teddy would coo something unintelligible and make that sappy toothless smile all babies did at people they liked.<br/>
<br/>
“Draco, dear the robes are finally here!” his mother exclaimed and he went to stand like a manikin before a short French assistant from Madame Malkin’s.</p><p><br/>
</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p>“Harry you haven’t even touched your pie,” Molly Weasley complained, putting another slice on his plate.<br/>
<br/>
It was the second day after Harry came to the Burrow after waking up to an empty bed and no sign of Malfoy anywhere. He suspected something like that might happen but he spent a couple of days fooling himself that whatever madness they’d engaged in would last a bit longer.<br/>
<br/>
He received the invitation to the Greengrass Annual Gala the first day he returned to Weasleys. Harry Incendioed it as soon as he saw Malfoy’s name next to the name of the Greengrass girl. The git was about to get married, of course, he would leave Harry, it’s not like they were in love or anything. It was just a fling, a bit of fun.<br/>
<br/>
The Gryffindor looked around the dining table at the somewhat solemn faces of his second family. There was no reason for him to upset them with the news that he was gay and would not be pursuing anything with Ginny just yet. He would say it eventually when all the eggnog was drunk and all the Christmas pastries were eaten and all the Celestina’s songs were horribly sung along with. Then he would say it but now was not the time.<br/>
<br/>
“I am sorry, Mrs. Weasley... I feel a bit under the weather today,” Harry lied.<br/>
<br/>
“You alright?” Hermione mouthed to him across the table.<br/>
<br/>
He shook his head and looked at Ron who avoided his gaze altogether. He had ruined their friendship with his stupid crush on Malfoy and it was painful to acknowledge.<br/>
<br/>
After the Christmas dinner the family gathered around the tree to sing some carols and talk and reminiscent of the happier years, when Fred was alive and Bill wasn’t attacked by the werewolf and the war was just at the back of their minds.<br/>
<br/>
“What happened, Harry? You can tell me anything,” Hermione asked for the umpteenth time since he came here.<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Harry replied for the hundredth time.<br/>
<br/>
So Ron had not told anyone anything, at least he was being a good friend at that moment.<br/>
<br/>
When Celestina started her annual Christmas song extravaganza on the Wireless he knew it was his cue. He came up to Ginny and asked her to talk to him somewhere private.<br/>
<br/>
“Of course, Harry,” she looked excited for the wrong reason.<br/>
<br/>
They went outside into the snowy garden. Homemade fairy lights were adorning the barren trees and evergreen bushes. A random gnome would stick its potato head out of the snow and grin at them with a mouth full of sharp teeth.<br/>
<br/>
“Gin, I need to tell you something,” he started to say, a knot in his throat. “I think that we cannot be together anymore…”<br/>
<br/>
“What? Why? But we were… It was going fine,” the girl denied, tears glistening in her eyes.<br/>
<br/>
“I am gay… I should’ve never lead you on like that,” Harry announced and he was relieved to see that at least those words were honest.<br/>
<br/>
“It is because of Malfoy, isn’t it?” Ginny asked. “He made you like that, he… that sleazy, disgusting serpent…”<br/>
<br/>
“One cannot make a person gay, Gin… Don’t be ridiculous! I knew that before, I just refused to acknowledge it and thought it would go away… It didn’t and I am sorry that I’ve hurt you.”<br/>
<br/>
She slapped him. It stung and it was a nice reality check for Harry, he was still alive.<br/>
<br/>
“Fuck you, Harry Potter!” Ginny spat and slammed the door behind her leaving him alone in the backyard.<br/>
<br/>
He exhaled a cloud of steam in the cold air. At least that was done.<br/>
<br/>
He noticed a familiar silvery shape in the darkness pouncing over heaps of snow, his new Patronus, an arctic fox. Only he hadn’t cast it. The apparition stopped in front of him, beautiful fluffy tail wagging and clever eyes looking inquisitively and spoke with urgent Draco’s voice.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Tears and Secrets</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>There is a little piece from Tchaikovsky's 6 duets for piano and voice, called Tears. It is always performed in Russian in a classical setting so I will provide a translation in the notes at the end.<br/>It is obvious why I chose this composer, he was gay and oppressed by the society, this part of his life is erased from his biography in Russia and other Post-Soviet countries.</p>
<p>The next chapter is coming soon after this one.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The grand ballroom in the Greengrass estate was lavishly decorated by the most exquisite Christmas ornaments. Large garlands of holly and evergreens were hanging off the walls and frozen trees with charmed ice crystals, that chimed every time someone walked by, framed the main entrance. There was an outrageously tall fur tree in the center, an array of baubles all shapes and sizes, candles, and miniature ice sculptures on its heavy branches.<br/>
<br/>
The hall had a glass door that lead to the garden, protected by the heating charms, with green bushes and Ancient Greek statues everywhere and a magical fountain that was shooting colorful sprays of champagne up in the air. Thankfully Greengrass family were not keeping those annoying peacocks and there was plenty to drink.<br/>
<br/>
Draco entered the party with his mother in hand. It was a masquerade so a mask of silver and black suede was firmly on his face, Narcissa was wearing a veiled hat adorned with a small flock of taxidermied birds holding ash berries in their beaks and talons. He was trying not to fix his dark green robes too much. There was a silver dragon embroidered on the fabric in silk and it moved around curling and uncurling its paws and sending rivulets of threaded fire on the sleeves or the back. Those robes were amazing and under different circumstances, Draco would boast and parade around in them, but that night they felt too heavy and uncomfortable and too loose in some places and too constricting in the others.<br/>
<br/>
“Draco, dear, don’t forget to smile,” his mother said through clenched teeth presenting her gloved hand to be kissed by one important person after the other.<br/>
<br/>
The chamber orchestra had already set up on the stage and the hosts entered the ballroom in matching costumes of silk and organza. Daphne and Astoria followed them, dressed as water fairies, with sparkling bejeweled hair ornaments and robes of aqua and cerulean blue. She looked pretty, he had to admit, a bit shy for such a grandiose event but at least her smile was less fake than any other in the room.<br/>
<br/>
Draco came up to introduce himself, placing a gallant kiss on her hand.<br/>
<br/>
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mister Malfoy,” Astoria said. Next to her Daphne huffed in disapproval and whispered something into her sister’s ear.<br/>
“I know already,” the girl answered nonchalantly.<br/>
<br/>
The Slytherin had to suffer through three waltzes with the lady. Fortunately it wasn’t like Pansy at the Yule Ball, younger Greengrass could dance, her body almost weightless under his hands as he steered her across the ballroom in the frenzy of robes. She smiled at him as they finished their last dance and settled next to big glass doors looking out into the orchard.<br/>
<br/>
“Care to have a little walk in the garden, Mister Malfoy,” she suggested.<br/>
<br/>
“Call me Draco,” he offered her his elbow and they went out, a perfect couple having a stroll.<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t you like the statues,” Astoria showed him the composition of Cupid and Psyche mere inches away from a kiss. “My father had won that one in a muggle auction. Curious how these muggles could portray magic without knowing it actually existed.”<br/>
<br/>
“They probably knew back then,” the blonde commented, studying the sculpture, the woman was reaching out to the winged youth like she had been yearning for him all her life, obvious passion portrayed in alabaster.<br/>
<br/>
He would never have that with her, as much as he would make himself imagine it. She was a nice, proper girl but a girl nevertheless. Draco would respect her and probably have enough stimulating conversations about art and music and literature not to be completely disappointed by his future wife, but he could never love her, that was obvious.<br/>
<br/>
“I know that you’re not exactly a ladies man, Draco,” Astoria said quietly as they sat in the gazebo with vines of ivy weaved around its pillars, “My sister, Daphne, had been dating Blaze Zabini for a while, and he told her in confidence that you were… erm, not interested in women.”<br/>
<br/>
“And are you okay with your fiance being a queer?” he gave her a bitter smile.<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t have much of a choice,” the girl replied, “But you know, at least you seem like a decent person. Unlike my previous suitor.”<br/>
<br/>
“What happened?” Draco asked.<br/>
<br/>
“It is a long story, let’s just say I am glad that most of the former supporters of You Know Who ran away from the country,” Astoria laughed and then paused, her eyes wide, “I’m sorry… I’ve said a wrong thing.”<br/>
<br/>
The blonde shook his head and lifted his sleeve a bit to show her faded remains of the Dark Mark on his forearm.<br/>
<br/>
“I decided this does not define me anymore,” he told her seriously.<br/>
<br/>
They sat in silence for a moment, thinking of their own things, and then the girl stood up and started twirling around the enclosure, her lightweight robes shimmering brightly under the artificial light of the lanterns.<br/>
<br/>
“Is there a boy… that you love?” Astoria asked, continuing to spin around.<br/>
<br/>
“There is,” Draco confirmed solemnly.<br/>
<br/>
“Does he know?”<br/>
<br/>
“I think so,” the Slytherin remembered those sincere smiles Potter always gave him even when they weren’t fooling around.<br/>
<br/>
“You are a lucky guy, Draco.” she exhaled, stopping at last. “The person I love is married. He doesn’t even suspect I am a witch.”<br/>
<br/>
“A muggle?” he gaped at her, astonished at the revelation.<br/>
<br/>
“He is my vocal coach. Father adores muggle classical music so he hired the man to teach me,” Astoria explained. “We started our secret relationship a year ago… it is mad, I know. I am only sixteen and he is twice my age… but I haven’t seen a person with a more beautiful soul than he is.”<br/>
<br/>
“And your father suspects nothing?” Draco laughed incredulously.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh. He does,” the girl admitted, “That’s why he chose you since you play the piano too. He thinks that would keep me away.”<br/>
<br/>
“We should probably go back,” he suggested, “I heard your mother wanted me to perform something for the guests.”<br/>
<br/>
“Do you mind if I sing?”<br/>
<br/>
“Tchaikovsky?”<br/>
<br/>
“I’d love too!”<br/>
<br/>
It was a bizarre situation, both of them as eager to call off this farce of an engagement as each other, both of them having a secret that no pureblood wizard would approve of.<br/>
<br/>
As they entered the ballroom once again, Mrs. Greengrass came up to Draco and reminded him about the piano piece he agreed to play.<br/>
<br/>
“Astoria and I decided to recite a piece together,” he announced.<br/>
<br/>
Approving applause resonated in the room as witches and wizards came closer to the grand piano to listen. The blonde sat down, casting a spell on sheet music to change to his own, and looked at the girl expectantly. She came up to the improvised stage smiling nervously and fidgeting with a layer of her robes. Draco’s fingers touched the keys, playing the introduction, and then she inhaled and started singing in the most heart-shattering soprano he’d ever heard, a slight English accent in her pronunciation:<br/>
<br/>
“Слёзы людские, о слёзы людские,<br/>
Льётесь вы ранней и поздней порой…<br/>
Льётесь безвестные, льётесь незримые,<br/>
Неистощимые, неисчислимые, —<br/>
Льётесь, как льются струи дождевые<br/>
В осень глухую порою ночной.”</p>
<p><br/>
</p>
<p>It wasn’t a Christmas song, it wasn’t a declaration of love, it was a scream for help from both of them, a desperate cling to something that they were going to lose after this betrothal takes place. The ballroom erupted in astonished clapping, the audience oblivious to the meaning of these words.<br/>
<br/>
“That was beautiful, my love,” Mr. Greengrass came up to his daughter, kissing her on the cheek. “But I think that most of you know why we are here today. To announce a union of two ancient wizarding houses and two young hearts before us. Astoria, Draco…”<br/>
<br/>
He didn’t manage to finish his sentence when the wards started ringing, making everyone gasp and scream and cover their ears. A couple of ornaments on the Christmas tree and champagne flutes shattered from the sound as a group of people clad in crimson robes Apparated into the hall.<br/>
<br/>
“What is the meaning of this?!” Gareth Greengrass shouted. “The DMLE has no business barging in here unannounced!”<br/>
<br/>
“Mister Greengrass we suspect there is a group of wanted Death Eaters attending your party at present! Corban Yaxley is one of them,” the man closest to the stage announced. “We need to escort our witnesses for their protection.”<br/>
<br/>
He came up to Draco, taking him by the forearm unceremoniously and dragged him away from the piano. The blonde noticed that his mother was also brought in by another man, whose face was eerily familiar to him.<br/>
<br/>
“We excuse the disturbance, our people will search the building. In the meantime, everyone should remain where they are,” the Auror demanded.<br/>
<br/>
“Draco! Be careful!” he heard Astoria shout to him as he and his captor Disapparated away. </p>
<p>He was almost not surprised to see an abandoned muggle warehouse instead of the Ministry holding cell when they finally arrived.<br/>
<br/>
“Where is my mother!” Draco demanded, taking out his wand in a warning.<br/>
<br/>
“You won’t need that!” the man said and disarmed him effortlessly.<br/>
<br/>
“What is going on!” he shouted, looking around.<br/>
<br/>
There were a couple of empty wooden crates thrown on the floor haphazardly and some muggle repairing equipment but the windows were bolted shut with thick wooden planks and there was a massive chain and a padlock on the door. He had little chance to escape.<br/>
<br/>
“You have something that we need, Draco,” the fake Auror grinned maliciously. “You do remember old family friends?”<br/>
<br/>
The wizard waved his wand and took away the glamour. An ugly face of Crabbe Senior was glaring at him.<br/>
<br/>
“You bastard!” he screamed, launching himself at the man with his fists.<br/>
<br/>
“Incarcerous!” Crabbe shouted.<br/>
<br/>
Draco fell to the floor, ropes twisting around him and making it hard to inhale fully.<br/>
<br/>
“You were clever back then, at the safe house, to bring Potter with you,” the Death Eater said. “But the Boy-Who-Lived won’t help you now.”<br/>
“What do you want?” the blonde panted.<br/>
<br/>
“I want to see your poncy arse burn like my poor son, whom you abandoned!” he exclaimed, “But Yaxley has other plans for you… He’ll be here soon. But before he comes… we might have some fun.”<br/>
<br/>
The Slytherin knew what would happen next, the Cruciatus curse attacked his strained nervous system, sending him into the abyss of agony. He was too anxious about his mother to dissociate, feeling all of the impact. The ropes tightened, preventing him from writhing on the floor and he felt like lack of oxygen made his mind swim, he was about to faint, to plunge into sweet oblivion.<br/>
<br/>
“Not so fast…” he heard Crabbe sneer. “Eneverate!”<br/>
<br/>
He was pulled back into clarity until another Curse had him see white. Draco thought he would have gotten used to this after two years, but those few months of peace after the war made him soft. He prayed that Corban Yaxley would come soon and end this torture.<br/>
<br/>
“Crabbe! Enough!” were the words that saved him.<br/>
<br/>
The pain stopped and Draco vomited, he pushed himself further away on the floor like a worm, trying not to roll into the mess next to him. He noticed another man standing next to him, a very familiar smell of expensive cologne in the air around him.<br/>
<br/>
“Draco, Draco, Draco,” Yaxley clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “You go around Obliviating my nephew when all he did was ask politely… Such lack of manners!”<br/>
<br/>
“Fuck… you!” the blonde spat.<br/>
<br/>
“Now, now, you don’t want anything bad to happen to your precious mummy, do you?” he asked with false concern. “Let’s cooperate and nobody would be harmed… much. Where are the memories?”<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t know!” Draco protested. He honestly did not know where other vials with information might be.<br/>
<br/>
“Baelish told us you had a little peek into her mind when you had your little meetings at the DMLE interrogation chambers,” Yaxley said.<br/>
<br/>
“She Obliviated me!” the blonde exclaimed. “I don’t remember anything about it!”<br/>
<br/>
“How fortunate you’ve left this little thing for Williamson to find,” the Death Eater showed him a glass with the Memory Restoring Elixir Granger had given him on the train. “Open wide.”<br/>
<br/>
He felt someone’s rough hand prying his mouth open and a slightly bitter liquid touched his tongue and poured down his throat.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Translation of lyrics from Russian:</p>
<p>Sad human tears, oh sad human tears,<br/>You rain on down both early and late...<br/>You flow unknown to us, often invisible,<br/>Pour inexhaustible, countless, miserable, -<br/>Flow as rain spouts touch down till storm clears,<br/>In gloomy autumn flow as night time spate.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If you want to listen to the performance it is available on YouTube, just follow the <a href="https://youtu.be/3GCmiBlGx3I">LINK</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. A Door With Two Serpents</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Trigger warning: some violence and mention of sexual assault here</p><p>Draco will probably be fine though :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The world around him whirled with lights and faces of people and glimpses of places. Usually when one was to take the Memory Restoring Elixir they would need to calm their mind and meditate before taking it. Otherwise, there were cases of people losing their minds from the sheer overexertion.<br/>
<br/>
Draco shut his eyes firmly and concentrated on keeping himself sane. He couldn’t easily let go like before. He could smell bile from the vomit on the floor and the iron scent of his blood, he could feel the rough concrete floor underneath his cheek and the cold draft that seeped through from outside. He could hear rasp voices of Death Eaters above him, the rustle of the robes the scrape of their boots. The blonde imagined the piano keys, he concentrated and soon the same melody was filling his mind, taking his senses away and making him go down inside himself.<br/>
<br/>
<em>Elise Baelish… Auror Baelish… concentrate… Elise… </em><br/>
<br/>
He woke up in the simple square room with two chairs and one desk, there were two mugs of tea and a pack of simple Digestive biscuits between him and the young woman in crimson uniform. She looked absolutely exhausted, her almond-shaped eyes bloodshot and tired, her smart half-bob haircut roughly tucked behind two ears, her fingers fidgeting with the wand.<br/>
<br/>
“Rise and shine, Draco,” she smirked. “I have been trying for hours... you must have repressed that memory, but I need to know about Fenrir Greyback nevertheless.”c<br/>
Elise. It was her, interrogating him. That must have been a memory that she erased from him, the one where he managed to break her guards and look into her mind.<br/>
<br/>
“Did he torture you? I’ve seen plenty of Death Eaters throwing Cruciatus at you before but you didn’t flinch… What has he done? You need to tell me and the bastard will pay. I’ll make sure of it!” she was adamant to keep questioning him.<br/>
<br/>
“No!” he heard himself say.<br/>
<br/>
“Did he try to rape you? Force you to do something? Did he kill someone dear for you? Come on, sweetheart, work with me here,” Elise continued. She stood up and started pacing along the interrogation chamber.<br/>
<br/>
“When I was in the States I used to work with abuse victims, fish out the things their mind hid away deeply under the wall of amnesia just to catch the perpetrator. Believe when I say it, I have seen it all. You will not surprise me, Draco!”<br/>
<br/>
“No! No, please, don’t make me…” he felt tears rolling down his face.<br/>
<br/>
“Well, to be honest I am done with you… you are the worst fucking witness, Malfoy.” Baelish cursed. It was rare to see her lose her cool like that.<br/>
<br/>
His mind did not suppress that memory, he made himself forget. That happened with somebody else, not him. He closed his eyes and flashes of feathers, bloodied robes, and torn guts on the floor assaulted his brain.<br/>
<br/>
Greyback killed him, Jaques, he tore him to pieces after he walked in on them snogging in the owlery. And then he made Draco crawl on his knees towards him. He clearly remembered the smell of the beast before him when the werewolf grabbed his face and pushed it dangerously close to his crotch. He was aroused from ripping into the boy, his poor French cousin.<br/>
<br/>
Aunt Bella was just on time to stop the inevitable, she roughly dragged Draco to his feet, and told him to get out, called him a good for nothing poof who cannot fend for himself. The parents were told that there had been an accident while hunting... It was summer before he received the Dark Mark...<br/>
<br/>
“Greyback was one of the people, who brought Potter in,” Elise commented on the things she had seen, “You were afraid for his life since you’ve seen what happened to that other boy… Jaques?”<br/>
<br/>
“How dare you speak his name!” Draco yelled, “You bitch! You have no right…”<br/>
<br/>
An image of his cousin with his throat ripped open, his beautiful blue eyes wide and still, changed to the image of Harry with the same wounds.<br/>
<br/>
“I will make it go away if you want to,” Auror Baelish offered sympathetically. “Say a word and I will erase this memory from your brain forever…”<br/>
<br/>
“NO! STOP IT! PLEASE STOP… STOP IT…” he was screaming his voice raw.<br/>
<br/>
“One more time and we’re done. Legillimens!”<br/>
<br/>
“PROTEGO MAXIMA!” Draco bellowed and somehow his mind was clear, he felt calm and at ease once again. He noticed that the eyes of his interrogator were staring into nowhere, a trickle of blood coming from her nose. So he decided to take a look and he couldn’t resist.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
…A big two-sided door with two engraved serpents wrapped around the ornate handles. A girl around ten or eleven years of age is in front of it, a set of too big crimson robes covering her shoulders. A man holding a box of toys and personal things is standing next to her, he is tall and dark-skinned a silver earring shining in one ear. An Auror, Kingsley Shacklebolt.<br/>
<br/>
“They will take care of you here, Elise… And then next year you will be coming to Hogwarts like you wanted…” the Auror smiles.<br/>
<br/>
… A young woman opens the same doors without any hesitation. She smiles at a flock of little children that run up to her as soon as she enters the hallway. A short older woman greets her with a hug.<br/>
<br/>
“Elise, how is your Auror training? I heard you are leaving soon for New York?” the woman asks.<br/>
<br/>
“Yes, I won’t forget you, Auntie, I promise to owl every month,” Baelish smiles.<br/>
<br/>
… It is a familiar place, magical machines and trinkets are swirling and chirping and letting out steam. A tall wizard with a long gray beard and half-moon glasses is looking intently at the woman in crimson Auror robes.<br/>
<br/>
“You need to help them, people like Sirius Black. There shouldn’t be more mistakes like that,” the man says.<br/>
<br/>
“And work with him out of all people. He is a cruel and two-faced man!” she shouts at him.<br/>
<br/>
“That’s why you should keep an eye on him. Corban Yaxley might be all of these things but he is your father, you have a connection no other people possess. You have his talents, his persuasiveness, you can use them to your advantage,” the wizard explains calmly.<br/>
<br/>
“He is not my father anymore!” Elise retorts.<br/>
<br/>
“I will not sugar-coat it, Miss Baelish, the Order needs you. You must find all the people who sympathized with the Dark Lord in the Ministry. They all had an alibi but you can see things others can’t.”<br/>
<br/>
… it is pouring down rain, an older woman opens the door and points her wand at the young woman in front of her.<br/>
<br/>
“Auntie, it’s me,” Elise says with a small sad smile.<br/>
<br/>
“I need to be sure, what is your real name?” the matron asks.<br/>
<br/>
“Miranda Yaxley,” the girl mouths.<br/>
<br/>
“Come in, dear... those bloody dementors everywhere,” the lady tuts.<br/>
<br/>
They step inside the building and Baelish takes out a bunch of shiny vials from the inner pocket of her robes.<br/>
<br/>
“There are just a few left… I am sorry I am making you keep them,” she looks and the lady apologetically.<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t be silly, dear, it’s your home. Who am I not to help our brightest ward?” the matron pats her hand and hides the glasses away…</p><p><br/>
</p><p>	“<em>Eneverate! </em>Listen! I don’t think he’s breathing,” a rough voice was right above Draco’s ear.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Eneverate! Eneverate </em>, goddammit! Crabbe, you’ve killed our source! You bloody fool…”<br/>
<br/>
He could see a door with two serpents in his mind. It led to the building he had been to many times during his community service hours. St Barbara’s Orphanage for the War Victims, that was a place Elise hid the memories in. She probably wrote in his probation slip that he was to serve his duty specifically there. A smart bint.<br/>
<br/>
“Hey, it was your bright idea to feed him the potion. You don’t know what it does even!” another Death Eater protested.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Avada Kedavra!</em>”<br/>
<br/>
A body fell to the ground with a loud thud and Draco inhaled soundlessly, he was trying to keep it quiet as long as Yaxley thought he was actually dead. The hand was on his pulse point and then he was shaken once again. He had no chance now. The blonde wished there was a way to notify somebody that he was there. Random images were still swimming in his mind, voices whispering nonsense, and faces that he did not recognize anymore were staring at him.<br/>
<br/>
… <em>one of the stipulations in your probation deal is that a trace would be out on you… any Apparition without a law enforcement officer would be traced and punitive measures would be taken…</em><br/>
<br/>
<em>Apparate.</em> Draco concentrated on the spot just a few feet away from where he was lying and tried his best to grasp all his magic, all his will to move his body. The ropes Crabbe cast vanished as soon as he was dead so it was easier for him to breathe and move now. A cracking sound and he felt like his body relocated further towards the stack of boxes.<br/>
<br/>
“You’re alive, you clever bastard!” he heard Yaxley shout, and then bright red sparks of Stunners rained on them.<br/>
<br/>
The blonde started crawling towards a bigger crate as the Death Eater was dueling with a few Aurors, a whirlwind of crimson and black robes in front of him and wayward spells chipping the concrete away in the warehouse. He managed to hide behind the metal container and breathe in full lungs of air for the first time. There was a constant buzzing sound in his head, and the surroundings were still a bit blurry but at least he felt somewhat safe.<br/>
<br/>
He heard a pop of apparition and angry shouts of people in the room, Yaxley probably escaped and so that meant his mother was still a hostage. Draco needed to get to those memories, to negotiate a deal to see how he could manipulate the Death Eater to trade Narcissa for some information.<br/>
<br/>
“Malfoy! We know you are here! Come out!” an Auror shouted. They were now searching the warehouse for him.<br/>
<br/>
Draco could not go back to the Ministry's custody, he had to find a way to get them to let him go. He thought of only one person capable of bending a couple of rules. A person who had complete disregard for the said rules in the first place.<br/>
<br/>
The Slytherin closed his eyes and memories assaulted him, so many of them he felt overwhelmed.<br/>
<br/>
...Potter chewing his quill in the class like an idiot… Potter flying on the broom all concentration and fervor… Potter biting his lips nervously… Potter laughing together with his friends… Potter taking out his quidditch gear in the locker room… Potter holding out his hand and pulling him away from the fire… Potter kissing him… Potter… Potter… Potter… Harry…<br/>
<br/>
A pleasant warmth enveloped him like those smothering covers Potter threw on him the first night at the Grimmauld place. He concentrated on it, on the times he finally felt alive and cast.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Expecto Patronum!</em>”</p><p> * * * </p><p>	<em>Burgundy…</em> he woke up with a gasp looking around and probably hallucinating. He wasn’t on the floor of that abandoned warehouse, covered in blood and vomit, he could smell that familiar muggle shampoo on himself, a nice fluffy blanket felt cool on his skin and a dim night light made a room cozy and safe. Draco blinked a couple of times making sure he wasn’t imagining this. But no it was definitely Potter’s bedroom and he was lying there alone.<br/>
<br/>
“He’s up!” he heard a brisk female voice.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh, thank Merlin!” another male voice exclaimed.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry, do we really need to babysit a ferret here?!” another voice complained.<br/>
<br/>
“Ronald, he was forced to take a Memory Elixir without any preparation! Can you imagine how much damage that might have done?!” the girl replied.<br/>
<br/>
“We could have just dumped him at St. Mungo’s…”<br/>
<br/>
“Ron, that’s quite enough!” the boy complained. “Are you going to help or not?! I need Mr. Weasley to send a statement to Kingsley…”<br/>
<br/>
A small hand was on his forehead and then on his throat checking for a pulse. Then a finger pulled one of his eyelids open and some light was shining into his eyes.<br/>
<br/>
“Ow! Too bright!” Draco complained.<br/>
<br/>
“What is your name? Do you know what year it is? How many fingers?” the female voice asked seriously.<br/>
<br/>
“What?! Granger, are you completely barmy… let a man rest, will ya?!” the blonde huffed, burying his head under the covers.<br/>
<br/>
“He’s fine,” the girl concluded and chuckled softly.<br/>
<br/>
And then he felt somebody jumping on the bed and grabbing him in a bear hug. A dark-haired head with glasses and a stupid wide Gryffindor smile was assaulting him with kisses on any available parts that were not protected by the blanket and his pajamas.<br/>
<br/>
“You know that I hate you, Potter,” Draco huffed and then he smiled back.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I have four more chapters planned so far so the story will conclude soon, I kind of don't want to let it go :^(</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Caffeine and Opium</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I thought this chapter was a bit too sad so I edited it a little to include the last scene, please reread if you have seen the previous version.<br/>There is a lot of adventure and action in the next one so stay tuned :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>His eyes felt like sand was rolling inside them, he probably consumed more cola than his cousin could with his favorite extra-large meals from Nando’s, but Harry kept at it, leafing through he ministry records Mr. Weasley had smuggled for him. Anything that could connect Baelish and Yaxley and Williamson.<br/>
<br/>
He hated such kind of research but Hermione was on the Healer duty most of the time, although it felt more like she was studying a fascinating subject than helping Malfoy regain some sort of semblance of reality. Harry had seen her writing notes as often as administering medicine and taking the vitals.<br/>
<br/>
“Whotcher, mate?” Ron asked drifting into the study like a ghost in his pajamas. “Mione told me to keep an eye on you… there’s got to be a secret passage to Black’s cellars somewhere in here. And after that fallout with mum and Ginny... we’re a bit worried you might relapse.”<br/>
<br/>
His best friend had bitterly reminded him of the remainder of the Christmas Eve at the Burrow and him running into the living room, making everyone jump out of their seats and demanding to drop everything and go rescue Malfoy. It was definitely not one of his proudest moments however after seeing that bloody Patronus Harry forgot about everything, anxious feeling of desperation overpowering him.<br/>
<br/>
“You have to see this!” he said and his friend looked at him with concern. Harry must have been a bit manic, but he didn’t care since he was able to find quite a lot. “Elise somehow managed to work at the DMLE under three current ministers without much suspicion about being a muggle-born!”<br/>
<br/>
“Well, she could fuck people’s minds up pretty well… I reckon she was useful,” the ginger concluded taking a magical picture of an Auror squad, all matching crimson robes and serious expressions on their faces.<br/>
<br/>
“Not only that, she was Yaxley’s protege and was involved in a lot of major trials as a witness for the defense… Look at this,” he passed Ron another set of papers, “her statements excused quite a few pureblood Voldemort sympathizers from going to Azkaban. Does it makes any goddamn sense to you?”<br/>
<br/>
“Not really, mate. But what did you expect, she was a Slytherin... They are not afraid to step over a couple of corpses for their ambitions!” Ron pointed at upstairs clearly talking about the semi-conscious blonde currently lying in Harry’s bedroom.<br/>
<br/>
“But Ron, she was helping me with the Malfoys all this time... and Kingsley had vouched for her as valuable Order informant inside the Ministry. He said we could trust her,” he said.<br/>
<br/>
How could someone involved with Corban Yaxley so closely be trustworthy after all? The bastard was in Voldemort’s inner circle and was responsible for taking over the government in the first place.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry, isn’t our good old chap Williamson here?” Ron pointed at another wizarding photograph where he saw a much younger Baelish laughing together next to a familiar man with a pony-tail of strawberry blonde hair, they were in the pub, surrounded by many similar people in uniform.<br/>
<br/>
“It is… wait! It says here that Oliver Williamson used to be her partner throughout the Auror training,” Harry couldn’t believe he had missed such a vital piece of information after trying to figure out the fake Auror for months.<br/>
<br/>
“Who’s that?” the ginger handed him a picture of Williamson and Elise hugging an older woman with a strict expression on her face at the steps of a Victorian house. Harry couldn’t read the plaque on the wall but he noticed the door to the building had a very Slytherinesque motif on its handles – two serpents.<br/>
<br/>
“Hey I know this place!” the dark-haired lad exclaimed waving the photo around in a caffeinated rush.<br/>
<br/>
“Saint Barbara’s... am I correct?” somebody said behind him in a distinct received pronunciation.<br/>
<br/>
“Draco…” Harry exhaled and Ron rolled his eyes. “Why are you up?”<br/>
<br/>
“I escaped Granger’s prodding me with her muggle contraptions. And I reckon, I might know a bit more since I got all my memories back,” the Slytherin sat down in the armchair beside him looking at the array of paperwork around them with curiosity.<br/>
<br/>
“All… er, all of them?” he asked nervously, watching the blonde intently.<br/>
<br/>
“All. Of. Them. Potter,” Malfoy paused after every word, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly became too tense for Harry to handle.<br/>
<br/>
“Merlin, break it off, will ya.” Ron interrupted their staring contest, he looked positively disgruntled by this situation, “What do you know, Malfoy?”<br/>
<br/>
Harry couldn’t take his eyes off Draco while he was retelling the things he witnessed. The Slytherin still looked a bit unwell but he carried himself differently than before, there was something undeniably attractive about him.<br/>
<br/>
“So you’re saying Elise hid the memories in the orphanage… That’s completely insane who would even think of that?!” the ginger exclaimed in disbelief.<br/>
<br/>
“That is exactly the point, Weasley because nobody would look there,” Malfoy huffed.<br/>
<br/>
“So what should we do then?!” Harry asked impatiently.<br/>
<br/>
“What should we all do is go the fuck to sleep, have you looked at the clock, Harry,” Ron yawned to prove his point. “We can figure it out tomorrow. We don’t even know for sure what is Yaxley’s next move.”<br/>
<br/>
“I have to agree with you,” the Slytherin said, standing up, and then he looked at Harry over his shoulder. “You coming?”<br/>
<br/>
That choice of words made his insides squirm with embarrassment and arousal, his heart picked up even quicker pace than before. Whose brilliant idea was to put Malfoy into Harry’s room in the first place? Now he had to use one of the countless guest bedrooms since Hermione and Ron were staying over too. He was about to move away down the corridor when long fingers caught him by the wrist.<br/>
<br/>
“Where do you think you’re going, Potter?” Draco was looking at him, standing just outside the master chamber.<br/>
<br/>
“I… dunno… we probably shouldn’t… My friends are here and you’re…” Harry was babbling and failing miserably to discourage Malfoy’s advances.<br/>
<br/>
“And don’t they already know about… this?” the blonde asked gesturing between them.<br/>
<br/>
“I guess they do,” he replied.<br/>
<br/>
“Well… what’s a big deal, it’s a large house and I am a wizard… I know a handy spell or two,” Draco breathed, his gaze full of not so subtle messages.<br/>
<br/>
And then Harry wasn’t thinking anymore, he was just stepping over the threshold and into the bedroom and kissing the boy before him with everything he had. He never knew he would find himself wanting another man so much. There was some inexplicable agreement between them, their movements fluid, their mouths fitting perfectly together, hands searching and touching, and bringing out pleasure.<br/>
<br/>
He was already so close to coming but he wanted more, he wanted to feel Draco inside him, he wanted to discover what was it like to be taken by the person whom he really desired.<br/>
<br/>
“I want you to… please… do it, Draco,” Harry moaned into another boys ear but that somehow had a completely different effect on the blonde.<br/>
<br/>
He suddenly stopped caressing him and moved away, looking shocked to hear it from the Gryffindor.<br/>
<br/>
“What’s… what’s wrong?” he asked Malfoy, taken aback by such a sudden change of attitude.<br/>
<br/>
“You don’t know what you’re asking for, Potter.” the Slytherin said simply, “It’s not something you give up that easily.”<br/>
<br/>
“What do you mean?” he blinked, the conversation was taking a strange route at that moment.<br/>
<br/>
“Your innocence, you don’t just let people take it… it’s supposed to be… important,” Draco explained looking very serious.<br/>
<br/>
“And you… you seriously believe in this load of bollocks?!” Harry let out a little laugh.<br/>
<br/>
“There’s a magical connection that is formed… at least that’s what they say. That’s why pure-blood marriages are so sacred, the people have to be pure… before they do it,” Malfoy continued looking a little hurt by his nonchalance.<br/>
<br/>
“And what exactly is considered not pure? When you suck someone’s cock? Or when you wank them off? Or when you put that cock in the orifices? How pure are we now, huh, Draco?!” he asked, annoyed. “Weren’t you the one who told me that it was okay for me to be whatever and to pursue whomever… well, I want to pursue you, thank you very much!”<br/>
<br/>
“Are you certain about it?” Malfoy bit his lip nervously, “You might hate it…”<br/>
<br/>
“I will make sure to tell you then…” Harry said, moving closer to the blonde and running his hand lightly over his abdomen.<br/>
<br/>
And then he lost all the ability to breathe because Draco was on him, pressing their mouths together, stealing any way for Harry to escape his grasp, his fingers moving lower between his arse cheeks. A couple of murmured spells and he felt himself being stretched by those long fingers, the ones who could run so effortlessly over the piano keys and make the instrument sing the most beautiful melody. It was weird at first and quite uncomfortable but then when he saw the way Draco was looking at him, the way his hands trembled when he tried not to make it too bad, he knew that he could trust him to get his body to feel the same, to light it up with pleasure.<br/>
<br/>
“Ready?” the blonde whispered and Harry nodded.<br/>
<br/>
He knew that would be painful at first, he didn’t expect that it would hurt that much. He shut his eyes and concentrated on stilling his hectic breathing.<br/>
<br/>
“’s bad?” Draco asked worryingly.<br/>
<br/>
“Wait… don’t move,” the Gryffindor croaked, trying to relax.<br/>
<br/>
“We can stop…”<br/>
<br/>
“Shut up and wait!” Harry snapped and then somehow it was almost bearable, who could’ve known that being penetrated by another man would be what he wanted to do.<br/>
<br/>
Slowly they found their rhythm and the previous pleasant sensation was returning back with so much intensity that it was almost unbearable to move. It was amazingly bizarre, it was overwhelming, it was so deliciously wrong and such a perfect screw you to all their preconceived beliefs and inhibitions, that Harry would have liked to relive that moment more and more. He wasn’t losing anything, despite whatever nonsense the pure-blood customs were dictating, he was gaining a new experience, a new sense of closeness to the person in front of him.<br/>
<br/>
Draco was coming with small gasps, a halo of white-blonde hair over his face that was frozen in the expression of pure bliss, his movements frantic and slowly losing momentum. He pulled out and made sure that Harry was not far behind, stroking him until he was panting his name and losing himself in that perfect instance of pleasure.<br/>
<br/>
They lied tangled together after that, too tired to move, lips touching leisurely and hands caressing sweaty skin.<br/>
<br/>
“Not bad for the first time, huh?” Malfoy asked a bit anxious.<br/>
<br/>
“Brilliant,” Harry breathed and the insecure expression on Draco’s face changed into a hesitant smile.<br/>
<br/>
He realized at that moment that he would never stop yearning for this fascinating person before him, with all his dark humor and bad habits and even worse mouth and his strength and fragility, his rare sincere smiles, his raw desire for him and his ability to make Harry lose control and he hoped that the other lad wanted him as much.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>… blood on the stone floor… flutter of wings… a scream of agony… Jaques… his brilliant Jaques with charming smiles and wicked disregard for whatever his father might say… Jaques kissing him… Jaques lying on the floor blood pooling around his savaged body…<br/>
<br/>
Draco sat up, casting a quick Lumos and looking around wildly. He found another person on the bed next to him, his uncovered back dotted in constellations of beauty marks, a burn scar on the left shoulder, locks of messy black hair getting shorter at the nape of his neck, his breathing deep and even. Potter was there sleeping, peacefully unaware of his night terror.<br/>
<br/>
A wave of nausea came up to his throat and Draco rushed to the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror, his expression vacant.<br/>
<br/>
How could he go on with all there horrific memories coming back to haunt him? And why wasn't he putting more effort into finding his mother? Merlin knows what could have happened to her by now. And Draco was just there doing nothing feeling like he was losing control over the situation. A familiar grip of anxiety made his mind dissociate, he could see a stranger in the mirror, pale and weird and sickly, a cursed mark branded forever into his skin. How could anyone love that? How could he go on living like this?<br/>
<br/>
He needed to forget, to plunge himself into this blissful feeling of indifference. His feet were walking on their own, ascending the countless stairs until he was in the stuffy chamber, surrounded by abandoned furniture. Gaslight flickered to life around the attic, the sheets of transparent material fluttered on the draft like robes of ghosts.<br/>
<br/>
The blonde exhaled warily, closed his eyes, and summoned the potion. It was there, Blacks always kept those things around and he knew it was too valuable to just be thrown away. The first drop on his tongue and his body shivered pleasantly welcoming the forgotten drug. In hindsight Draco must have taken too much but at that moment he really didn’t care. He managed to take off the covering from a dusty embroidered ottoman and stretched on it, his eyes rolling inside his skull and a narcotized slumber taking over him.<br/>
<br/>
He was unconscious for a long time, his limbs were cold and mouth was dry. Somebody was standing over him, shaking him, begging him to wake up.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry…” Draco whispered, a drunk smile stretching his lips. “You found me… you always do…”<br/>
<br/>
“What have you taken?! Tell me, you need to tell me… right now, Malfoy!” his voice was concerned.<br/>
<br/>
“You don’t call me… Draco... anymore… I remember you called me that… us making love… did that really happen?” he murmured, lifting his hand to touch the boy’s cheek, it was wet.<br/>
<br/>
“How could you! What happened… why didn’t you wake me up!” Harry was shouting at him.<br/>
<br/>
“I… whatever I’m on… it is not working anymore… will you make love to me too?” he wasn’t making much sense in his state.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry, Harry, are you in here? What happened?!” Granger yelled, what a busybody.<br/>
<br/>
Why was everyone making such a fuss all of a sudden? It’s not like he was any of their concern. Nobody cares about him anyway. Potter probably cared, since he was trying to manhandle him into sobriety.<br/>
<br/>
His body was lifted off the ottoman, fingers were digging into his sore shoulders, trying to drag him towards the exit and down the stairs.<br/>
<br/>
“Stay with him... I’ll get some water... put him on the side so he doesn’t choke,” the girl instructed.<br/>
<br/>
Draco was in their bed again, breathing in a familiar scent of sex on the rumpled bedsheets. Burgundy and white. A person next to him was radiating so much heat, a shaky hand was stroking his hair, and Harry’s voice was mumbling something in an angry tone.<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t cry… darling… I’m alright,” he whispered and felt tears running down his cheeks incessantly.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>He couldn’t sleep, he wasn’t able to close his eyes because the moment he did he saw Jaques’ face, his blue eyes stuck in the same terrified expression. <br/><br/>
Granger had purged the house of all remnants of illegal potions and ingredients to make some. She didn’t even say a word when he walked in on her pouring a vial after vial down the drain, precious hours of complicated brewing and spellwork wasted because of Draco’s stupidity. <br/><br/>
He felt like a prisoner in that place, Potter was looking at him with so much hurt he couldn’t bear to sleep with him anymore. He stayed in another bedroom for too long alone with his thoughts, while the study was always occupied by the three of them discussing things, making plans, drawing up charts.<br/>
<br/>
The Slytherin had sent ten owls trying to reach his mother in the past three days and he the moment another bird would come back empty clawed was the moment he wanted to hurt himself. The withdrawal made him shiver and be constantly cold and dehydrated, and at those times he would refuse to eat and throw temper tantrums and call Granger a mudblood. Weasley had punched him in the face for that, a dull pain and familiar iron taste in his mouth reminded him that he was still alive.<br/>
<br/>
On the fourth day Draco wandered into the room he hadn’t seen before, it was another parlor, that must have been a ballroom too, judging by the size of it. The upholstery on the walls was original arsenic green and dark wood, the floor was re-varnished and there was an old piano by the window. He sat down at it, cast a spell to unlock the cover, and tried a couple of keys. The sound was a bit dull and rusty, the strings were probably out of tune and dried-up. He started playing nevertheless. The melody sounded twangy and off-pitch, but it was one of his favorites.<br/>
<br/>
He heard a shuffle of socks on the wooden floor and somebody was standing behind him, not daring to move like they were afraid to scare off a wild animal.<br/>
<br/>
“Came to kick me out?” the blonde asked, knowing full well that it was a cruel thing to say.<br/>
<br/>
“I wanted to talk,” Harry replied, coming up to stand next to him at the window. “I’m trying to help... Can you, please, tell me what happened?”<br/>
<br/>
“So you’re not going to call me a drug addict and try to drag me to St. Mungo’s rehab anymore?” he smirked bitterly.<br/>
<br/>
“I am sorry I said that… But you do need help, Draco,” the Gryffindor continued.<br/>
<br/>
“I guess…” he agreed.<br/>
<br/>
He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to make the words come out, “There was another person that I liked… It feels like it was a long time ago. He was my cousin, on the Malfoy side. His family would come every summer to discuss some business deals with the Father and we would just explore the manor together. Sometimes we would fool around, hide somewhere on the property and behave like foolish children we were. The summer after the fifth year Aunt Bella escaped prison and brought a couple of her associates to the Manor. Fenrir Greyback was one of them… He killed him. I saw all of it… and that’s why…”<br/>
<br/>
Draco broke off, recollections of that scene poisoning his mind once again. He felt a hand on his shoulder, grounding him to the reality.<br/>
<br/>
“I feel like a proper arsehole right now…” Harry said solemnly, “I wish I talked to you sooner… I had no idea…”<br/>
<br/>
“We all have lost so much in this war,” the Slytherin mused.<br/>
<br/>
The Gryffindor flicked his wand and a little paper envelope fluttered towards them. He took out a black and white reel of photographs, there was someone that looked like his father surrounded by his friends all still motionless smiles and silly faces and then the last picture made Draco do a double-take. He had never seen this man look so young and so nonthreatening, the only image he remembered was from the wanted posters: a hideous mugshot with a wild mop of dirty hair and mad eyes. Sirius Black was there, enjoying his youth and kissing another lad.<br/>
<br/>
“That’s who I miss the most... My godfather... apparently he was into men as well,” Potter told him, looking at the picture with a sad smile. “I watched him die...”<br/>
<br/>
Draco moved closer to the dark-haired boy, wrapping his arms around his waist and pressing his head into his chest. They were so different: tall and short, blonde and brunette, Slytherin and Gryffindor, and yet their grief was so similar.<br/>
<br/>
“I was so worried…” Potter left a kiss in his blonde hair. “I might sound like a load of rubbish to you, but I do care about you, Draco.”<br/>
<br/>
He simply nodded, not willing to let go of him just yet. The door opened for a moment, there was an intake of breath and then it closed with a careful thud.<br/>
<br/>
“Will you behave?” Harry murmured.<br/>
<br/>
“You know, I can’t promise that,” Draco smirked.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>It is easy to forget that even when there is somebody you love, the depression will not simply go away because there are loved ones next to you. I wanted to show that in Draco's relapse here.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Sitting in the Tree</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A reminder that I've updated the previous chapter so check it out if you haven't already :)<br/>The mystery is going to continue from now on so hopefully, I will have enough time to add new chapters frequently. It is going to be more than I anticipated but more adventures await!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“How much longer?! I am really craving some greasy muggle delivery,” Ron groaned, leafing through the stash of take-out menus that had accumulated over the summer of renovations.<br/>
<br/>
“I can’t vanish this garland, Ronald!” Hermione complained, casting about a dozen of spells at the withering string of fur tree branches and holly over the mantelpiece to no avail. “It looks like quite complicated spellwork, so you’re going have to wait a bit!”<br/>
<br/>
With all this havoc at Christmas they had completely missed the boxing day, so Harry and his friends had spent almost all afternoon hoovering the pine needles off the Persian carpet and wrapping up the baubles to store for the next year. Tomorrow was New Year's Eve and despite all the thinking and planning and scheming they were still at the crossroads about what to do with Narcissa’s kidnapping and Yaxley’s being at large and out for blood.<br/>
<br/>
“Draco made it,” Harry commented, twirling the ornate glass turtle doves he had received from Bill and Fleur as a gift in his hands. They had probably hoped that those would represent Ginny and him.<br/>
<br/>
“I saw you talk this morning... do you think he’s going to be alright?” Hermione asked carefully.<br/>
<br/>
The Gryffindor shrugged, he couldn’t vouch for a wild card that was Draco Malfoy, as much as he wanted to fool himself into thinking that the worst had passed. He knew from his own experience that addiction was not a thing to treat lightly. Harry had heard from his uncle and aunt about muggles that would destroy their lives completely just to get the next fix and he was wondering how far gone was the Slytherin.<br/>
<br/>
“He had better apologize to you, Mione!” Ron added, “I don’t know how could you leave my sister for this… this disaster, Harry?”<br/>
<br/>
He exhaled warily, so it was the time for that conversation. He had been putting it off after that messy breakup with Ginny.<br/>
<br/>
“Ron… I’ve left her not because of Draco,” Harry replied, “I was confused… about a lot of things and me and Ginny… I thought it would keep me away from those unclear feelings, but the more I tried being with her… the more it was all going to shit.”<br/>
<br/>
“So what are you a… are you gay now?” the ginger asked carefully.<br/>
<br/>
“I dunno… I like guys… not just Malfoy… but him too, I guess,” he was probably as red as a beet by then, but he was grateful that his best mate was willing to listen. “I reckon, I still might like girls too, but… it doesn’t mean that it’s going to work out with Gin!”<br/>
<br/>
“Merlin’s bollocks!” Ron exclaimed “That was not what I had in mind when I told you to talk about your feelings and stuff with the ferret at the beginning of the year… ”<br/>
<br/>
“Are you okay… with all that?” Harry looked at his best friend.<br/>
<br/>
“Mate, I think we have been through weirder shit than you fancying Malfoy,” the ginger guffawed and gave him a friendly shove.<br/>
<br/>
Hermione came up to give him a tight hug and whispered with a crafty grin, “I noticed stuff a long time ago.”<br/>
<br/>
He was not even shocked to hear that. The girl was probably using some sort of reverse psychology on him to make him resolve his sexuality crisis when she constantly talked about sorting things out with Ginny. Harry thanked Merlin and whatever gods existed out there that his friends were supportive even in this ridiculous situation with Malfoy.</p><p><br/>
* * *</p><p>Draco was surrounded by blue instead of burgundy, but he didn’t really mind. That evening the other boy sneaked into his bed and the blonde tried to sleep, wrapped around this strange all-forgiving beautiful idiot that was Harry Potter. He almost made it through the night until another owl rapped on the glass and unlike the previous ones it was carrying something.<br/>
<br/>
Draco stood up quickly to open the window and let the bird in. It wasn’t any of the ones he had sent before. He unwrapped the package with shaky hands and a wedding band and a few dried flowers fell out of it. The parchment that was covered those items only said 24 hours and it burst into flames a moment after he read it. It was Narcissa’s ring, he had seen it so many times on her slender finger he would have never mistaken it. The Wishfern blossoms were imported species that grew only in the forests of Eastern Europe. Such rare kinds of flowers could only be found in the wizarding section of the Royal Botanical Gardens. Yaxley gave him a time limit and a location to make a drop-off.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry! Harry! Wake up!” he called, agitated.<br/>
<br/>
“Mmmm?” the Gryffindor asked unintelligibly.<br/>
<br/>
“Yaxley made contact! He has my mother! He gave me 24 hours!” Draco exclaimed, anxiously looking around the room for something decent to wear.<br/>
<br/>
“Wait... what? Where are you going?” Harry sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes and messing up his hair even more by scratching his head absent-mindlessly.<br/>
<br/>
“I need those memories… That’s what Yaxley wants, he is willing to trade my mother for them!”<br/>
<br/>
“We should contact the Order,” Potter suggested, “They can help arrest him.”<br/>
<br/>
“And how many times have the Ministry and your Precious Order failed?” Draco accused, “They couldn’t even keep my father out of harm's way when he was in their custody… They all have turncoats and Death Eaters in their midst! Are you seriously that naive to believe that anyone would help me… even if you ask!”<br/>
<br/>
“But you can’t just give Yaxley the vials.” the Gryffindor protested, “You have no idea what kind of information is there and how many people it will harm in the process!”<br/>
<br/>
“Do you think I care about other people at this point?!” he shouted a bit desperately. “Not everyone is a bloody martyr like you! He has my mother… My family! I don’t think you would understand…”<br/>
<br/>
The Slytherin grabbed the most passable things out of those that Potter lent him and started dressing in a hurry, his jaw clenched and fingers shaky. A couple of spells slicked back his relaxed hair and the mask of Malfoy he wore around to protect himself was firmly in place.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh that’s just rich!” Harry exclaimed back. “So what you’re just going to go alone?! Willingly conspire with a Death Eater?!”<br/>
<br/>
“You forgot that I am a Death Eater too, Potter!” he left the room and ran down the stairs quickly dismantling the protective wards that would keep him inside.<br/>
<br/>
“I am not going to let you!” the Gryffindor was behind him like a hawk, trying to throw a couple of jinxes to stall him.<br/>
<br/>
“Casting at someone’s back?! How rude of you!” Draco retorted with a hex of his.<br/>
<br/>
He summoned his coat, hastily put on the dress shoes from the ball and in a moment the wards gave in and the blonde was outside. Another spell called for his car.<br/>
<br/>
“Come back inside, please!” Potter was standing at the top of the stairs, still in his pajamas, a hopeless expression of his face.<br/>
<br/>
“No, can’t do! I wish there was another way…” the Slytherin lit a cigarette and got into the Mercedes that was waiting for him already.<br/>
<br/>
The passenger door opened sharply before he managed to start the ignition, and Harry was inside the car, his face disapproving.<br/>
<br/>
“Hate to break it to you, but no Auror goes on a mission only in their underwear,” Draco retorted sarcastically.<br/>
<br/>
“Well if you don’t listen to reason, I have no choice but to go with you!” the Gryffindor huffed adamantly.<br/>
<br/>
Draco rolled his eyes, he stepped out of the car and waved his wand, summoning some sort of outfit for Potter. He mismatched the socks but judging by the similar pattern on them, the twit probably wore odd socks all the time.<br/>
<br/>
“Get dressed, I have no time for your nonsense!” he threw the garments at Potter and was already at the steering wheel adjusting the protective charms on the vehicle.<br/>
<br/>
His gaze wandered appreciatively over the curve of Harry’s arse as he bent down to put on his hideous muggle trainers and then Draco quickly threw out the cigarette butt and floored the gas pedal. Potter scrambled for a seat belt, trying to catch the odd trinkets that flew off the dashboard as the car made a sharp turn at the busy intersection, swerving past sluggish muggle transport effortlessly.<br/>
<br/>
They passed the Whitechapel and were nearing the old abandoned wizarding neighborhood, where the orphanage was located. Before the Dark Lord’s terror on the magical and muggle population alike, many wizards preferred living close together in those charmed Victorian and Edwardian townhouses. But as random murders and disappearances and muggle-born purges became a common thing, those streets were forgotten and houses left behind, the wealthier hiding away in their country estates. The only building that survived was St. Barbara’s Orphanage, it was probably protected by very powerful pure-blood magic, judging by the sign of Salazar Slytherin on the door.<br/>
<br/>
“I am just going to ask some questions, first,” Draco assured, trying to adjust his Potter hand-me-downs.<br/>
<br/>
“Like I would believe that,” Harry retorted, following him out of the Mercedes.<br/>
<br/>
The blonde knocked on the door briskly and waited impatiently until somebody would answer. He saw an oddly familiar shape of a Patronus prance away as the Gryffindor sent a message to his friends of their whereabouts. It couldn’t have been a stag, it looked smaller and had a long fluffy tail, maybe a dog of some sort. There was no time to ponder about this change because an older lady with her salt and pepper hair slicked back into a tight bun was looking at Draco with a knowing smile.<br/>
<br/>
“Mr. Malfoy, Happy Christmas!” she greeted him, “I am glad you came, the girls will be delighted! They have been practicing Silent Night all month! And mister?”<br/>
<br/>
“Duddley, Vernon Duddley,” the Slytherin answered for Harry, giving him a not so subtle look that said <em>just go along with it</em>. “He’s a friend visiting from the countryside.”<br/>
<br/>
“Happy Christmas,” Potter grinned sheepishly. “You have a lovely place here!”<br/>
<br/>
“Well thank you, young man,” the woman smiled and invited them inside. “You’ve just missed breakfast but I am sure there is some tea and pudding.”<br/>
<br/>
“Pibsy!” she called sharply and a house-elf in a clean muggle football jersey appeared in front of them carrying a tray bigger than her body itself.<br/>
<br/>
“This way, mistress, masters” the elf squeaked and led them to a smart office that used to be a drawing-room of some sort.<br/>
<br/>
There were countless wizarding photographs of the matron surrounded by the gaggle of children all smartly dressed in uniforms however their hairstyles were wild enough to match Potter’s unruly mop. Auntie gestured towards the coffee table and a couple of richly upholstered armchairs and Pibsy arranged the tea service for them.<br/>
<br/>
“Why is she wearing West Ham United jersey?” Harry asked, intrigued.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh that silly thing? Elise thought she would free old Pibsy here by giving her muggle clothes, bless her,” the woman chuckled and gave the elf a disapproving glare.<br/>
<br/>
“Elise? You knew Auror Elise Baelish?” Draco asked cautiously, helping the lady with the tea.<br/>
<br/>
“Of course I did, she was our pupil, a very bright young lady, a bit non-conventional if I might say. Her mother was muggle-born, you see. She had trouble adjusting to a lot of the children here.” Auntie summoned a photograph of much younger Elise standing next to other children, her hair artfully braided and that smug grin on her face Draco had witnessed firsthand. “I was so proud of her and Oliver graduating Hogwarts and going on to become Aurors.”<br/>
<br/>
“Oliver Williamson?” Potter blurted with eagerness.<br/>
<br/>
“Why yes, Mr. Duddley, are you an acquaintance of his?” the lady asked worriedly.<br/>
<br/>
“No… er, nevermind. I’ve just heard a name somewhere…” the Gryffindor babbled trying not to blow his cover too much.<br/>
<br/>
“Olie was a quiet kid,” the Auntie continued, “but they were friends with Elise… I thought maybe one day those two would tie the knot, but alas. She is too much of a career woman, that girl.”<br/>
<br/>
“It is so tragic that she passed away,” Draco said studying her face intently.<br/>
<br/>
Aunt Bella always told him that the best time to use Legillimency on the unsuspecting person was to provoke some sort of emotional response, catch them off-guard, and distracted. He was waiting for the woman to let her barriers down and cast a quick non-verbal <em>Legillimens</em> on her. But her mind was an impenetrable fortress, he had never felt such strong magical rebound to his spells.<br/>
<br/>
“It is indeed... She had a dangerous job,” Auntie said and sipped her tea nonchalantly, “Why are you so interested in poor Lizzy here, Mr. Malfoy?”<br/>
<br/>
“She helped me restore our good name,” the blonde replied and quickly stepped on Potter’s foot to get his attention.<br/>
<br/>
<em>Distract her</em>, he mouthed and Harry started his awkward small talk about the orphanage.<br/>
<br/>
“It is so nice… er to see the wizarding community helping the children in need.”<br/>
<br/>
“Mister Duddley, this orphanage wasn’t founded by a wizard,” Auntie corrected him, “Marius Black was a squib, who had been disowned by his pureblood family. He tried his best to create a refuge for those who were unjustly abused by the sorts like Mr. Malfoy’s parents, no offense,” she smiled sweetly to Draco and something uncanny was in that grin. “You will find that most pupils here actually have a guardian on the outside, but we deem them completely unfit to raise those children. So the Ministry takes them away and they become our wards.”<br/>
<br/>
Potter sat there with a very strange expression on his face, he looked somehow so subdued and hurt. Draco realized that he must have been thinking about his terrible muggle relatives that were cruel to him all his formative years. He wanted to comfort Harry in some way but remembered that it was important to fish out the location of the memories from this woman.<br/>
<br/>
The blonde had tried a couple more times to get into her thoughts but it was impossible, the lady was definitely more powerful than she let to believe. Perhaps that’s why Baelish had trusted her with the vials in the first place.<br/>
<br/>
They had exhausted all the topics and Draco asked Auntie to show "Vernon" around, while his mind was trying to come up with another plan.<br/>
<br/>
“Why are we still here?” Harry asked impatiently.<br/>
<br/>
“I cannot do anything to her. The Occlumency is too strong for me,” he whispered angrily.<br/>
<br/>
“Maybe, you should just give up?” the Gryffindor said.<br/>
<br/>
“You know, I can’t do it… My mother’s well-being depends on those vials!” the blonde hissed.<br/>
<br/>
“What about the elf?” Potter suggested. “I bet, she must know something, and it would be easier to charm her than the mistress.”<br/>
<br/>
<em>Why hadn’t he thought about it sooner?</em> House-elves had incredible insights on the ins and outs of wizarding households. Draco gave the boy a satisfied smile and spoke to Auntie.<br/>
<br/>
“You must be so busy, now that the holidays are almost over. We have already taken so much of your time. Do you mind if I just see the girls and me and Vernon will be on our way?”<br/>
<br/>
“Of course, Mr. Malfoy, I trust you can find the piano room yourself. I’ll call them soon,” the lady agreed and disappeared at the end of the corridor.<br/>
<br/>
They went to the rehearsal room that was in the North wing of the building. Someone was already strumming the poor instrument. Draco had to tune it up every time because those kids were completely brutal with their practicing.<br/>
<br/>
“Draco! Oi, Haley, Kriss, Draco’s here!” Martha, a little dark-haired girl jumped up and shrieked as soon as she saw him. He received a tight hug and then two more of his students ran up to him, clinging to his legs like monkeys.<br/>
<br/>
Potter was looking at him funny, a wide grin on his face and his eyes were twinkling with some unknown emotion.<br/>
<br/>
“Oooh, who’s that?” Kristine, a girl with unevenly chopped auburn hair, asked him, pointing at Harry, “is he your boyfriend, Draco?”<br/>
<br/>
The bloody Gryffindor also lifted his eyebrows as if to ask, <em>well, am I your boyfriend</em>. He stood there feeling mortified and betrayed, then cleared his throat before quickly nodding to the nosey child.<br/>
<br/>
“Awww, you’ve got a boyfriend! Draco’s got a boyfriend! Draco’s got a boyfriend!” Haley started chanting, walking around them, and pointing her paint-stained finger at him.<br/>
<br/>
“Uh, how about you play us something?” Potter asked, trying to save the embarrassing situation.<br/>
<br/>
Martha was quick to sit at the piano and practiced a couple of scales for warm-up just like Draco had taught her.<br/>
<br/>
“What’s your name, Draco’s boyfriend?” Kristina asked, burring poor Harry with her small curious eyes.<br/>
<br/>
“Er, Harry… Potter,” the idiot babbled his real name.<br/>
<br/>
“The Harry Potter?!” Haley asked in awe.<br/>
<br/>
“Yep, but it is a big secret,” Draco whispered theatrically and gave a girl a wink.<br/>
<br/>
“Okay, I know how to keep secrets… I didn’t say that Kriss wet herself the other night to anyone!” the girl said.<br/>
<br/>
Harry laughed and shook his head at this.<br/>
<br/>
“Hey, Hal, how about you call us Pibsy, I have a couple of questions to ask her,” the Slytherin suggested.<br/>
<br/>
“Auntie said not to bother the elves that much anymore,” Martha commented from the piano.<br/>
<br/>
“It will be just a minute…” he gave her that charming Malfoy smile that would make Pansy do his boring History of Magic essays for him and the girl nodded eagerly.<br/>
<br/>
“Oi! Pibs! Piiiibs!” she screamed and the house-elf Apparated into the room.<br/>
<br/>
“Master Malfoy,” Pibsy bowed her big eyes looking at him worriedly.<br/>
<br/>
“Hey, Pibsy,” Potter crouched to her level and tried to sound non-threateningly. “You know Elise Baelish, don’t you?”<br/>
<br/>
The elf nodded, her tiny hands started fidgeting with her jersey nervously.<br/>
<br/>
“Elise had been leaving something here to keep safe, do you know where it is?” he continued and the creature went completely hysterical.<br/>
<br/>
She ran up to the piano and started bashing her disproportionately big head into it.<br/>
<br/>
“Pibsy, stop! Stop, please!” Harry was trying to prevent the poor elf from hurting herself.<br/>
<br/>
It was a great chance for Draco to do his part. He took out his wand and cast a legillimency spell on her.<br/>
<br/>
… it is a sitting room that they were previously in... an older lady asks the elf to bring the Pensieve… she uncorks one of the vials and pours the memory into the basin… but she doesn’t use it to look at it, instead she makes a copy of the recollection using a complicated enchantment…<br/>
<br/>
… the room resembles a medical ward of some sort or perhaps a school infirmary… a dark-haired girl is sitting on the chair, her eyes glassy and vacant… the woman puts a wand to her temple and extracts a thin shimmery sting of memory form her mind… after that she picks out a new one from the Pensieve and inserts it back into the child’s head…<br/>
<br/>
...a female Auror has a verbal altercation with a woman and rushes out of the building, throwing a couple of curses back at the lady…<br/>
<br/>
Draco inhaled sharply, emerging back to reality and the wave of pure horror and disgust hit him as he looked at the grinning healthy-looking pupils in front of him.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry… It’s Auntie… It’s her, she is connected ot Elise's murder… She’s using children to store the memories,” he told the Gryffindor in a weak voice.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Fast and Foolish, Bewitched and Furious</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Panic made his head spin the moment he saw the stricken expression on Draco’s face. That lady was potentially very dangerous to all the kids in this institution and they need to do something, to get the authorities involved and stop the madwoman before she did even more damage. The elf was their only chance to discover enough incriminating information and perhaps find out the truth about Elise's murder.<br/>
<br/>
The student with a homemade haircut, Kristine, was at his side trying to calm down the elf, dragging her away from the piano, her small hands pulling at her jersey helplessly.<br/>
<br/>
“We need a space where she can’t hurt herself!” Harry shouted.<br/>
<br/>
The girl with uneven pigtails and stains of paint all over her school uniform nodded seriously and showed them the way to a small lounge that had a couple of bookcases and cushions thrown around the place. The Gryffindor grabbed the struggling house-elf and carried her there while Draco was casting a barrage of privacy spells in the room.<br/>
<br/>
“Stall the mistress! Nobody needs to know we’re here! We’ll be back soon!” the blonde instructed the pupils.<br/>
<br/>
Haley and Kristine noded and ran along the corridor. The dark-haired girl, Martha, folded her arms adamantly and demanded to stay.<br/>
<br/>
“Pibs is always kind to us, I won’t let you hurt her!” she said in a stern voice.<br/>
<br/>
“Fine,” the Slytherin exhaled, “Keep an eye on the door. If things go South hide behind me!”<br/>
<br/>
“Is it really okay to have a student here with us… she’s like five!” Harry objected, giving the stubborn girl an apprehensive glance.<br/>
<br/>
“I’m seven!”<br/>
<br/>
“She’s seven and she’s as hard-headed as you,” Malfoy commented ruffling her black curls affectionately. “Can you do something with that creature?! Her screams are going to get attention!”<br/>
<br/>
“Oi, she has a name!” Martha pouted, staring at Pibsy worriedly.<br/>
<br/>
Harry put the elf down and sat on the floor next to her, charming her a large handkerchief.<br/>
<br/>
“Here, Pibsy,” he handed it carefully, “You need to calm down a bit, okay? You haven’t done anything bad… Your mistress forbade you to speak of it, right? Er… nod if it’s true.”<br/>
<br/>
The house-elf looked at him with her big eyes full of tears and nodded.<br/>
<br/>
“Elise, she was a pupil here. She was nice to you, wasn’t she? Do you know what happened to her… just nod.” he tried speaking calmly not to trigger another episode of self-harm.<br/>
<br/>
Pibsy continued shaking her head, her gaze darting around the classroom as if to find where to escape. Harry wasn’t sure he would be able to persuade her to go with them or give any statements, but he needed to try.<br/>
<br/>
“Was mistress bad to you?” he asked studying countless injuries on Pibsy’s small arms and legs.<br/>
<br/>
A lot of them were not self-inflicted but were remains of hexes and curses that only a wand could leave.<br/>
<br/>
“Of course she was!” Martha exclaimed, “Tell him! Tell Harry! It’s true!”<br/>
<br/>
“Harry… Master Harry Potter?” the elf looked at him questioningly.<br/>
<br/>
“Yes… er, that’s me,” Harry confirmed, he heard an annoyed huff from the blonde.<br/>
<br/>
“Master Potter is nice to elves…” she started speaking in her trembling high-pitched voice. “Master Potter gave an elf a wizard burial… No wizard has ever done that for an elf!”<br/>
<br/>
“You buried Dobby? You actually buried a house-elf?” Malfoy asked surprized.<br/>
<br/>
“He was a friend! He was a hero!” the Gryffindor shouted defensively. “I know for you purebloods he was just a property, but he fought with us!”<br/>
<br/>
He didn’t mean to get so emotional at that moment. But the fact that Draco looked at him as though he was loony for caring about the person who saved all of them from that wretched Manor was really hurtful. He wanted to see more in him than just former schoolyard rival, he thought that there was some change in his behavior, that he wouldn’t show his disregard and prejudice so openly anymore.<br/>
<br/>
“I… am sorry,” the Slytherin lowered his head. He crouched down on the floor to speak to Pibsy on her level. “Harry and I truly need your help. Someone killed Elise... the person, who was nice to you, who tried to save you from harm by freeing you… Won’t you help us see who did it?”<br/>
<br/>
He gaped at the sudden change of attitude in Malfoy, he didn’t know whether it was because he really needed those memories or if he cared for the kids in the orphanage and what happened to Baelish. The elf stared at him like a little mouse would watch a magnetizing dance of a cobra before the strike. There was one thing for Harry to speak to her as equal, but seeing a pure-blood heir regard a servant in such a manner was completely different.<br/>
<br/>
“You don’t have to talk… Just let me see your memories. I promise, it won’t hurt,” Draco said softly already lifting a wand to cast a spell at the poor elf.<br/>
<br/>
There was a loud crash and the girl with auburn hair burst into the room, panting, her face pale as a sheet.<br/>
<br/>
“Quick! Auntie is coming and there’s an Auror with her!” she cried out.<br/>
<br/>
They both stood up sharply, taking their wands out, ready for the confrontation.<br/>
<br/>
“Martha, Hailey! Take the others and barricade somewhere safe! Don’t get out of there under any circumstances!” the blonde barked at the girls and they quickly darted out of the room, serious faces, and no complaining.<br/>
<br/>
Harry reminded himself that most of these children had lived through the war as he and the rest of Hogwarts had. They had probably heard instructions like these from their parents and guardians countless times when they were at risk of a search or a Death Eater attack. He felt saddened because their childhood was stolen by Voldemort and his followers.<br/>
<br/>
“Pibsy, you’re going to have to go with us,” Draco nodded to the elf, “Harry will keep you safe, don’t worry!”<br/>
<br/>
The house-elf moved closer towards Harry, crouching behind him, her small body shivering with fear. Still, she hadn't Disapparated away yet, which meant that she trusted them enough and, hopefully, would cooperate.<br/>
<br/>
“We’re cornered here!” the Gryffindor noted, “If she’s going to attack, we…”<br/>
<br/>
“We’ve got the window!” Malfoy smiled at him wickedly.<br/>
<br/>
“Mister Malfoy?! What in Merlin’s name is happening here? Why are you bothering my elf?!” the matron came into the lounge, Oliver Williamson standing behind her in his crimson uniform looking menacing.<br/>
<br/>
“I’d like to ask you quite a few questions myself… But clearly, you were reluctant to answer them earlier!” the Slytherin replied sarcastically.<br/>
<br/>
"I will not have a Death Eater brat like you meddling in my business!" the lady quickly changed her tone of voice.<br/>
<br/>
She threw a non-verbal curse at them, it rebounded off Harry’s shield with a loud swoosh and sliced a bookshelf in half. The witch tried again, casting more and more powerful and quite dark spells. The Gryffindor could barely keep up with her, Draco was trying to fire a hex or two in response, backing away towards the high Victorian window in the process. Surprisingly, Williamson did not engage in the duel, he just stood there motionlessly like some big dumb puppet without anyone to pick up its strings.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Bombarda!</em>” the Slytherin yelled and glass shards and wood chips scattered everywhere, creating a passage for their escape in place of the window.<br/>
<br/>
Harry grabbed the house-elf under his arm and they jumped out of the second floor, wind and wayward spells whooshing in their ears.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Aresto Momentum!</em>” Harry cried and it slowed down their crash into the evergreen bushes. They were just a couple of inches away from the metal fence with sharp spikes and he was very glad for their luck.<br/>
<br/>
“Get to the car!” Draco shouted, pointing at the vehicle that was already driving to them, jumping over the curb with the insane speed.<br/>
<br/>
“What about the kids?!” he reminded, “We can’t leave them alone here! We need to get someone!”<br/>
<br/>
“Gimme your wand!” the Slytherin demanded.<br/>
<br/>
“Why?!”<br/>
<br/>
“Just give me your bloody wand, Potter! I’ve got an idea!” he grabbed the wand of holly and gave him his hawthorn one like it was every day that they exchanged them.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Morsmordra!</em>” Malfoy chanted and pointed Harry’s wand into the sky as a large glowing green skull appeared in the air, a snake coming out of its mouth.<br/>
<br/>
Pibsy squealed in horror, banging her small arms and legs at Harry’s side and trying to free herself from his grasp.<br/>
<br/>
“What the fuck! Are you barking mad?! That’s a bloody Dark Mark!” the Gryffindor protested, his scar did not hurt at the sight of it in the slightest, after Voldemort’s demise it wad just a menacing picture in the air.<br/>
<br/>
“Exactly, the Aurors will be here in no time!” the git was grinning like a loon, “Oh, here’s one coming already!”<br/>
<br/>
He pointed at Williamson walking towards them, his movements sharp and unnatural like he had been bewitched.<br/>
<br/>
They quickly ran towards the Mercedes. As soon as they got in, Harry secured the house-elf by the seat belt on the backseat and Draco aggressively started the ignition, sparks flying out of the holly wand everywhere.<br/>
<br/>
“Bloody thing is as stubborn as her owner,” he grumbled and turned the steering wheel sharply to the left, driving recklessly into the narrow alcove, hitting a couple of muggle rubbish bins in the process.<br/>
<br/>
“I think we’ve got a tail!” Harry pointed to the crimson shape riding the broom that appeared in the wing mirror from the passenger's side.<br/>
<br/>
“Shit! Hold on tight!” Draco gritted swerving the car and getting onto a busy street.<br/>
<br/>
He must have broken at least a dozen rules while doing so and the Gryffindor wondered how the foolhardy git still had his license. Strong disillusioning charms and a couple of Confunduses were a probable answer.<br/>
<br/>
“We cannot drive like that around all these muggles! Someone will see us!” Harry exclaimed worriedly as a cacophony of klaxons erupted around them.<br/>
<br/>
“I've got it! Distract him a bit!” Malfoy yelled and lowered the window so it was easier for the dark-haired boy to fire some spells at the pursuer.<br/>
<br/>
“There are muggles!” he argued.<br/>
<br/>
“Well, fucking obviously! Use your gray matter, Potter, cast something other than Expelliarmus!” the blonde retorted, skidding off to the backstreet and moving towards a less populated area.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Sectumsempra!</em>” Harry managed to cast, the hawthorn wand pulsing in his hand like it was his own.<br/>
<br/>
Draco whistled impressed, “You’ve got some balls to do that one with my wand!”<br/>
<br/>
“Remind me again, why did we switch them?” he asked breathlessly, trying to figure out if Williamson was still behind them.<br/>
<br/>
A jinx swished past his ear and shattered the wing mirror, and Pibsy squealed and shut her eyes in fear, covering her face with her tiny hands. That was his answer.<br/>
<br/>
“Because you won’t be thrown into Azkaban… for a couple of unforgivables!” Malfoy grinned and cast a curse out of his side at the chaser.<br/>
<br/>
The Mercedes was now driving along the docking area next to the Thames river. Warehouses and boat repairing facilities surrounded them and thankfully there were no wayward muggles to gawk at the pursuit.<br/>
<br/>
“We need to shake him off!” Harry yelled, casting another Snape’s favorite at the fake Auror.<br/>
<br/>
“Got it!” Draco nodded, “Grab a package out of the glove compartment!”<br/>
<br/>
The Gryffindor found something wrapped in very familiar colorful paper and later discovered that it was Peruvian instant darkness powder from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. He threw it out of the window and soon everything was enveloped in the pitch-black mist.<br/>
<br/>
“A brilliant thing, isn’t it?” the blonde smirked, cast another strong disillusionment charm on the Mercedes, and pressed the gas pedal.<br/>
<br/>
They were leaving the West End, going over the bridge and blending in with the other cars, that were busy to get home before sundown, when Harry was happy to say that they'd lost the tail. The vehicle stopped in a deserted alleyway between two muggle building and they could finally catch their breaths.<br/>
<br/>
“Merlin, my father did not prepare me for that when I learned how to drive!” Draco exhaled his hands still gripping the steering wheel, “Pibsy, are you alive there?”<br/>
<br/>
The elf muttered something weakly in response, still too scared to look up from her curled up position.<br/>
<br/>
“That was kinda fun!” Harry laughed and then he was reaching for the Slytherin, turning his blonde head towards him and kissing him, adrenaline singing in his veins.<br/>
<br/>
The blonde answered enthusiastically and then they were snogging each other senselessly, lucky enough to escape another peril with little injury. They didn’t even hear the poor house-elf squeal with embarrassment in the backseat.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I wanted a car chase scene I wrote a car chase scene! :)<br/>Even more shenanigans in the next chapters!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Waxing Gibbous</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Harry didn’t expect to be locked in the car. He didn’t expect to be locked in the car after he a Draco sodding Malfoy managed to escape from an Auror under the Imperius Curse that was trying to kill them. And he definitely didn’t expect the plonker to kiss him like he did, to make him so aroused and bothered and then to let go, cast a body bind spell, stuff his wand in the glove compartment, and lock him up.<br/>
<br/>
Malfoy took the elf away and said that he was sorry with the face that suggested that he wasn’t sorry at all. He was probably on his way to the meeting with Yaxley, while Harry was stuck in that bloody Mercedes, without his wand, and with a hard-on, that would not go away because of the spell. He was trying his best to concentrate on making some sort of connection with the unicorn-hair core wand that was in the box in front of him.<br/>
<br/>
<em>Finite Incantatum, Finite Incantatum, Finite Incantatum!</em> He thought desperately, and in about five minutes he managed to free himself from the body bind. Harry swore under his breath, took out Malfoy’s wand, and tried to unlock the car door. It was probably spelled shut from the outside and he couldn’t budge it. Using the blasting hex was too dangerous in such a small space, and it was protected by the anti-apparition wards, so he crawled over to the driver seat and sat there, looking at the different scales and buttons on the dashboard. He cast a Patronus for Ron and Hermione but he didn’t know his location so the message for them was convoluted at best. The arctic fox that strutted to life was clearly mocking him.<br/>
<br/>
<em>You like this treacherous prat and he left you to go be chummy with Voldemort’s old crew.</em><br/>
<br/>
Harry knew it was more complicated than that. That Draco was put in an unfair position that he had to rescue his mother, but he could have at least accepted his and the Order’s help instead of going there alone with no plan and thinking he could win.<br/>
<br/>
The only option he had was to find him and drive there himself, but he didn’t know how would that even work. Uncle Vernon would have kissed a blast-ended skrewt first than teaching Harry how to drive. And this vehicle was no ordinary muggle car, it was modified to go faster than some of the professional brooms and it certainly had the mind of its own when it came to responding to its master’s call.<br/>
<br/>
A mad idea struck Harry’s mind, somehow the car was able to find Draco wherever he was, maybe there was a way to reverse engineer this and try to move it to the place without the summoning charm. He started clicking the buttons and pulling the levers to no avail until there was one with the picture that looked like a compass. The Gryffindor pressed it gingerly, praying to all the gods and wizards that it would work. And suddenly the car roared to life, turned on all the fancy lights on the dashboard, lit up its blinkers and started driving on its own, picking up more and more speed until Harry had no choice but to clutch at the seat belt and hope that he won’t crash or run somewhere into the ditch on his way to Malfoy.<br/>
<br/>
The Mercedes reached Central London, dodging the traffic almost as artfully as its owner. There were quite a lot of people out and about, wandering around, lighting fire-crackers, and going to pubs to celebrate the New Year. Harry saw that he was now nearing a beautiful park, basking in the street lights and festive illumination. Various trees and bushes of all kinds were covered with snow here and there and a giant greenhouse was glistening in the distance. So Malfoy was there.<br/>
<br/>
The vehicle stopped and as if to laugh at Harry even more all the doors opened on their own and even the boot of the car popped up. He cursed again and got out, casting a Disillusionment charm on himself and trying not to make much noise.<br/>
<br/>
He saw flashes of light at the greenhouse and figured out that it was probably a place of the meeting. The Gryffindor unlocked the glass door and stepped into an immense jungle of plants of all colors, shapes, and sizes. The smell of different pollen was heavy in the air and he could hear faint buzzing of some insects that had survived winter in here. He moved farther, carefully maneuvering between the vines and the leaves not to cause much rustle.<br/>
<br/>
The orchids and bright tropical bushes changed to huge flesh-eating plants that emitted rancid stench of rotten flesh to lure their prey, and then Harry noticed very familiar wrinkly heads of Mandrakes and deadly spikes of Fanged Geranium and it wasn’t a simple muggle botanic garden anymore. He couldn’t believe that there was a magical section to this greenhouse, smack in the middle of muggle London and he wondered if some unlucky visitor ever got themselves maimed or eaten by one of these monstrosities.<br/>
<br/>
“...you come here… expecting me to trade her for what? A house-elf?!” he heard a mocking voice somewhere in the distance.<br/>
<br/>
“This elf has all the information you need, Yaxley!” was a sharp response from no other than Draco Malfoy.<br/>
<br/>
“Why should I believe you?” the Death Eater demanded.<br/>
<br/>
Harry hid by the tall plant with large purple leaves and saw a little enchanted replica of the forest with pine trees and beds of moss and bushes of fern everywhere. The fern was radiating red glow from many little blossoms among the dark green leaves. It was a mesmerizing sight to behold but he also noticed that there were three figures opposite from Malfoy and the elf. Yaxley and another man who was holding Narcissa Malfoy at the wand point. He couldn’t see the man’s face properly because of the dark but he stank of blood and sweat quite strongly.<br/>
<br/>
“She knows what happened to Miranda!” Draco said triumphantly, “Pibsy, you do know who Miranda is?”<br/>
<br/>
“Y-yes, Master,” the elf squeaked. “It is Master Corban’s daughter.”<br/>
<br/>
“How does… tell me at once, what happened to her?!” Yaxley shouted.<br/>
<br/>
“Only after you give me back my mother!” the Slytherin protested.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh, no-no… sugar, that was not the agreement,” the other man stepped up closer, pulling Narcissa with him and an ugly hairy muzzle of Fenrir Greyback was smirking at the blonde.<br/>
<br/>
“You!” Draco exclaimed. “Don’t you dare hurt her or I will kill you!”<br/>
<br/>
“Tell my good friend here where is his daughter and we can all get what we want!” the werewolf sneered.<br/>
<br/>
Harry looked at the sky, trying to find the moon poking through the canopy of trees, it was Waxing Gibbous, almost full that night. If the beast attacked him, there was a chance that he could get infected by the lycanthropy.<br/>
<br/>
“Come on, Draco, don’t be foolish,” Yaxley continued.<br/>
<br/>
“I know who killed her! I can bring you to them!” Malfoy said, his voice wavering with fear.<br/>
<br/>
“And how do you know all that? Do you think I would believe that this creature let you see its memories? You are not its master” the Death Eater laughed.<br/>
<br/>
“She did though… I know Miranda tried to warn you about the DMLE raid at the end of August. She came to the elf’s household and spoke to her about it! And then the next day she was found dead!” Draco told him.<br/>
<br/>
“Really? Anything else you want to say?” Yaxley smirked, he was not impressed by the information in the slightest.<br/>
<br/>
“Miranda was working for the Order of the Phoenix all this time, right under your nose! She supplied them with all your darkest secrets, she fished out the information from all your associates,” the blonde was slowly moving closer towards them, Harry’s wand firmly clenched in his fist. “She took the memories, copied them, and sent the information straight to Dumbledore!”<br/>
<br/>
“I knew my daughter was an Auror and I knew that she wasn’t loyal to my cause! But why was she killed, it couldn’t have been anyone of my people! They don’t spill pure blood!” Yaxley shouted.<br/>
<br/>
“Because she had discovered something that she shouldn’t have… All those vials that you want, you can’t have them. There are no vials anymore. But I know who can get you the memories and I know who killed Miranda and for that, you will trade!” the blonde stood strong, and at that moment he was fearless and had an upper hand.<br/>
<br/>
“Why do you think I can’t just use Legillimency on you and get the answers myself?” the Death Eater retorted.<br/>
<br/>
“Because even your precious talented daughter couldn’t fish anything useful from me for weeks in the Interrogation,” Malfoy exclaimed. “Now, let my mother go!”<br/>
<br/>
Yaxley nodded to Greyback and the werewolf was about to lower his wand when he sniffed the air and bared his fangs maliciously.<br/>
<br/>
“I can smell someone else in here!” he growled and then leaped to the place where Harry was hiding.<br/>
<br/>
“I thought I said no company!” Yaxley bellowed and threw a curse at Draco.<br/>
<br/>
Harry had to blow his cover, run away from the charging werewolf, he fired some spells but those did very little damage to the beast.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Sectumsempra!</em>” the boy shouted.<br/>
<br/>
Fenrir howled in pain, rolled in the dirt, losing momentum, and then scrambled to his feet skittishly.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Incarcerous!</em>” ropes flew out hawthorn wand and Greyback screamed tearing away at them.<br/>
<br/>
“Potter! What the fuck are you doing here?! Pibsy! Take my mother somewhere safe! Call for help!” Malfoy shouted and the elf obediently Disapparated leaving them behind to duel with the Death Eaters.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Difindo!</em>” the blonde shattered the case with the Devils’ Snare and its nasty tentacles spilled everywhere, coiling around Yaxley and constricting him. “Apparate away, Harry! Now!”<br/>
<br/>
“I am not leaving you here!” he said stubbornly, putting on a strong shielding Charm.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Lumos... Solem!</em>” Yaxley cast and the vines slithered away from him.<br/>
<br/>
He threw a Killing Curse at Malfoy but he was faster, dodging away and blasting a couple of Bubotubers on the unsuspecting Death Eater. The man cried in pain and Disapparated before the blonde could throw another curse at him.<br/>
<br/>
Harry wasn’t so lucky, he was cornered by Greyback, who threw off his restrains. The beast was foaming at his mouth and growling at him.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Crucio!</em>” Draco yelled, pointing at the creature but it did not stop him, “<em>Crucio! Crucio!</em>”<br/>
<br/>
The werewolf attacked Harry, his sharp nails dug into his skin and his teeth bit into his shoulder. The Gryffindor cried out in pain as blood started gushing from his torn vein and spilling everywhere, he felt hot and cold at the same time and then he saw a vicious curse take over Greyback who prepared for another bite.<br/>
<br/>
His jaw started to twitch and his eyes bulged and then he bent and started vomiting blood and guts all over Harry’s trainers.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Expulso!</em>” Draco shouted and the werewolf’s deteriorating body was pushed away from the dark-haired boy with an incredible force.<br/>
<br/>
Harry heard someone yell his name and then saw a white-blonde hair lit up by the moonlight and big gray eyes haunted by fear and panic. A familiar silver shape leaped out of his wand and then there was only darkness…</p><p>* * *</p><p>The Aurors came a couple of minutes after Draco sent his Patronus, he managed to switch his and Potter’s wand just in time for them to cast Priori Incantatem and see that he didn’t kill anyone. He couldn’t see anything except blood, he couldn’t smell anything except blood, he couldn’t taste anything except blood. He was covered in it, there was so much blood and guts on the mossy floor from where the Entrail Expelling Curse hit Greyback, and then there was Harry’s blood on his hands when he tried to seal the wound. The healers were working on him at the moment but Draco couldn’t shake the feeling that Potter was actually dead.<br/>
<br/>
Auror Proudfoot was saying something about being brought in for questioning and the Dark Mark and the conspiracy to commit murder but he wasn’t listening. In his head, there were only the agonizing screams and his poor attempts to stop the werewolf.</p><p>The world was gray and white, or maybe that was what Draco saw every day that he spent in custody. He had been there for two weeks without any news, anything at all. Whatever information he could provide to the wary looking Auror wasn’t sufficient enough to let him go. They believed he wanted to kill Potter and since all the spells that he had cast were done with Harry’s wand there was no proof that it wasn’t the case.<br/>
<br/>
Granger came to his holding cell one day, she brought some of his normal clothes and muggle books and even tea and biscuits. She sat next to him on the shaky bunk and looked at him pityingly.<br/>
<br/>
“Is he alive?” the blonde asked without any preamble.<br/>
<br/>
“He’s in a coma. The Healers are doing everything they can now,” the girl answered gravely. “I know you weren’t trying to kill him… But Robards and even Kingsley are not easily persuaded. The attack was too close to the full moon and your family… well you know that Yaxley and Greyback were connected to your father.”<br/>
<br/>
So it wasn’t the full moon that day. Perhaps, if Potter managed to pull through, he wouldn’t be infected. The chance was small but tangible enough for Draco to grasp at it.<br/>
<br/>
“Was Yaxley caught?”<br/>
<br/>
“They’re tracking him down. Williamson is gone too, and the lady from the Orphanage denies any allegations against her.” Granger continued, “Your mother provided her memories for your defense but she hasn’t seen the altercation between Greyback and you two. So far your alibi is flimsy at best. The problem with the magical law is that there is no presumption of innocence...”<br/>
<br/>
“So I am going to Azkaban then,” he exhaled.<br/>
<br/>
“No you’re not, Malfoy! You have done some stupid things yes, but you don’t deserve to go to prison for them!” she said sternly. “What were you trying to trade with Yaxley?”<br/>
<br/>
“He wanted to know who killed his daughter, Miranda Yaxley. Her alias Elise Baelish. And I used the house-elf Pibsy to get those memories. I can give them to you!” he said desperately.<br/>
<br/>
“I am afraid they won’t think that house-elf is a valuable witness,” she shook her head.<br/>
<br/>
“Use your wand! Take them! Please!” Draco shouted.<br/>
<br/>
The girl sighed heavily and pressed the tip of her wand to his temple, extracting a thin string of memory from his mind. She charmed a vial and put it away into her robes.<br/>
<br/>
“Granger, you need to prove that Auntie was using those children!” he demanded, “There is a girl Martha Bulstrode, Millie’s younger sister. People thought she was a squib but she has some potential. She was one of the children who had her memories replaced. You need to get to her before Auntie decides to Obliviate them all.”<br/>
<br/>
She nodded and was about to leave when she asked tentatively, “Why didn’t you let Harry help you with Narcissa?”<br/>
<br/>
“Because I was trying to protect him…” Draco said simply.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hopefully, Harry will be fine, we'll see in the next chapter :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. The Price of Freedom</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I apologize for a little pause in my upload schedule, I have been a bit overwhelmed with life recently so there was no time for me to update the story. There are two chapters that are semi-ready and they will be posted soon. I hope you are still excited to continue following the story ;)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The room smelled like medicine and withered flowers, he looked around in a daze and saw Ron snorting softly on the uncomfortable visitor’s armchair, a copy of Quibbler on his chest and a wand hanging loosely in his fingers. There were bandages over his right shoulder and his chest and his arm started to ache as soon as he tried moving it a little. Harry could not understand how much time had passed since whatever happened to him, but he felt like he slept for an eternity. The last thing that he remembered is that someone had saved his life, he didn’t remember exactly what happened but there must have been some sort of fight.<br/>
<br/>
“Ron?” he called faintly.<br/>
<br/>
His friend was not moving, he continued sleeping like nothing happened.<br/>
<br/>
“Ron! Wake up!” Harry shouted but nothing happened, the ginger did not even flinch.<br/>
<br/>
Then he noticed that there was someone else in the room, standing at the window, their silhouette barely visible because of the light that was streaming from the outside.<br/>
<br/>
“Who are you?! What do you want?” he demanded squinting at the figure.<br/>
<br/>
The person stepped closer, long crimson robes rustled soundly, and there she was, as good as alive. Elise Baelish was looking at him curiously, her smart haircut impeccable and a long dark bruise on her neck.<br/>
<br/>
“You… Aren’t you dead?” Harry asked tentatively, “Am I dead? Again?”<br/>
<br/>
She laughed and sat at the edge of his bed, her hand ruffling his hair playfully.<br/>
<br/>
“I am quite dead, I must agree, Mister Potter, but you’re not… At least not yet. You are in a comma and I am just but a figment of your imagination,” she explained.<br/>
<br/>
“In a coma? What happened?” Harry asked looking around.<br/>
<br/>
“Somebody is trying to do my job here,” Elise said, she rummaged through her pockets and pulled out a pack of Marlboro cigarettes and lit one with the tip of her wand. “Someone is looking for something in your mind… a bit messily. Oh my, I probably shouldn’t smoke in the hospital, right?”<br/>
<br/>
He was alert and tried to sit up but a hand with well-manicured dark-green nail polish stopped him, pressing on his chest painfully.<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t strain yourself, Mr. Potter!” Baelish warned. “There’s not much you can do about this situation.”<br/>
<br/>
“Who’s doing that? Who’s looking into my mind?” Harry demanded.<br/>
<br/>
“A person that wishes you harm, I’m afraid,” Elise said simply, taking another drag.<br/>
<br/>
“What do they want?!”<br/>
<br/>
“They think you know something that you don’t… that’s too bad, really, I thought you were a smart cookie,” she smiled.<br/>
<br/>
“And what am I supposed to do?” he asked incredulously.<br/>
<br/>
“At the moment? Nothing. They won’t find anything useful… but then comes the unfortunate part,” she looked at Ron who was slumped in the armchair. “They will try to kill you. For real this time.”<br/>
<br/>
“Kill?”<br/>
<br/>
“I think so… maybe we will even have a matching bruise,” Baelish laughed. “But that’s not the worst now, is it? Dying?”<br/>
<br/>
“I suppose not,” Harry agreed.<br/>
<br/>
“The worst is that a person that you need to help might die too,” she looked at him seriously.<br/>
<br/>
“Who will die?” he started to panic, his eyes darted at the slumbering form of his best friend.<br/>
<br/>
“You know this person,” Elise crawled on his bed and was straddling his hips inappropriately.<br/>
<br/>
“What are you doing?!” Harry protested. She was there, with her breasts and her thighs pressing on his crotch, too soft and too curvy.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh, right… I forgot, not a big fan of brunettes. How about now?” her hair changed its color to blonde, it started to become shorter and shorter.<br/>
<br/>
“Erm… do you mind stopping?!” he did not want a woman that was twice his age trying to seduce him, dream or not dream.<br/>
<br/>
“Yes, yes… you’re not into ladies. I got it,” her chest became flat and her small manicured fingers became longer and paler.<br/>
<br/>
She gave him a carnivorous smile, and then her lips were thin, and dark brown eyes changed to gray. Draco Malfoy was looking at him, wearing ridiculously bright robes and high heels.<br/>
<br/>
“Draco?” Harry exhaled, touching his cheek.<br/>
<br/>
His hand could feel his skin with a slight prickle of barely visible stubble, he could smell that distinct scent of burnt tobacco leaves with cool notes of menthol and sharp spicy odor of male, that lingered on Slytherin’s skin when they had sex.<br/>
<br/>
“Potter, you need to wake up! Now!” the blonde told him urgently.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
“But I haven’t seen you in forever… Can I kiss you first?” he asked flirtatiously reaching to trace boy’s lower lip with his thumb.<br/>
<br/>
“No, you may not, Potter! That is absolutely improper!” Draco huffed, folding his arms on his chest. “Wake up now!”<br/>
<br/>
“But…”<br/>
<br/>
He was there, someone Harry had no idea he could long for that much, someone so complicated and infuriating and yet so captivating.<br/>
<br/>
“Do you want to die?! Are you really such a stupid plonker that you will let yourself be dead just because you’re horny?!” the Slytherin hissed.<br/>
<br/>
“I’ve missed you, Draco!”<br/>
<br/>
His hands reached up to caress his sides, slid further behind to cup his buttocks. Harry wanted to know what it would be like to spread those arsecheeks and plunge into his tight heat, to experience the same sensation Draco did when he held him.<br/><br/>
“Wake the fuck up! Wake up! You insufferable berk!” Malfoy was screaming at him and shaking him and slapping his cheeks.<br/>
<br/>
“Draco?” Harry was insulted by this lack of response to his touch, his face stung and his wound was throbbing painfully under the bandages.<br/>
<br/>
“What?! What again?! I swear if you won’t wake up right now I will kill you myself!” the blonde was reaching for his throat and choking him.<br/>
<br/>
“Stop! Stop it! Fine! Fine, Malfoy!”<br/>
<br/>
But the suffocating sensation did not stop, the air was leaving his lungs painfully and Harry opened his eyes to see a person wearing crimson robes like Elise did, but it wasn’t her it was Auror Williamson trying to smother him in his hospital bed. Harry tried to reach something to hit him with but he just managed to throw a bunch of potion glasses on the floor.<br/>
<br/>
“Accio wand!” he thought desperately, his mind becoming foggy once again, and then slender object flew into his hand.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Stu... Stupefy!</em>” he croaked and Williamson let go, his heavy body crushing Harry. “Ron! Ron!... Somebody, help!”</p><p>* * *</p><p><em>...It is necessary to have wished for death to know how good it is to live.....the sum of all human wisdom will be contained in these two words: Wait and Hope…</em><br/>
<br/>
He dared not to hope anymore, his existence since the war was contained to that one holding cell and it felt like he had never left it. Draco read this muggle book ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’, the one that Granger had given him, every day as long as the dim sunlight allowed him to see the printed letters on the yellowing pages, and he wondered whether he should wait and hope that someone would pull him out of his despair. At night he couldn’t sleep, the moment the room was enveloped in darkness, the shadows of the past would come to haunt him, showing their beastly teeth, slithering like giant serpents, laughing madly and whispering rumors, shouting curses, screaming in pain.<br/>
<br/>
He wanted them to be gone, he cried and he scratched at his arm where the hideous brand reminded him his worth, he pounded the walls until his knuckles bled and hurt and he couldn’t dissociate anymore. The melody would not come, the keys would not move in his mind, the piano was standing still, wood rotting, varnish bubbling up and peeling off, strings rusting and snapping. At those moments he felt like a little child who wandered into Grandpa's old study and opened the dusty cupboard to see the Bogart for the first time. It looked like his father, wearing his impeccable Ministry robes and holding a cane, an expression of disdain on his face. Lucius was never shy to use something he called proper rearing with Draco, he never beat him but one look full of scorn and disappointment, one venomous comment was enough to make his little son curl up and spend all night in tears.<br/>
<br/>
Sometimes he dreamed of Potter, of his dark eyelashes and beauty marks running down his neck, the sharp white lines of his scars, and how easy it was to leave bruises and love bites on his skin. He could almost feel his ticklish nest of hair under his fingers, he could almost taste those full always chapped lips that liked to smile so much for no good reason, he could almost smell tea and muggle shampoo and something sweet that made up his scent. But then he would see blood, torn flesh next that delectable collarbone, a stain of crimson spreading all over that beautiful skin and he would wake up and scream and sob and beg the guard to put him out of his misery.<br/>
<br/>
It would continue for days or maybe weeks, Draco often lost time while in solitary confinement. They were afraid that someone might kill him if he had any contact with other detained. Granger would come and bring him some more tea and those crumbly muggle biscuits and he itched to embrace her. He had seen her hug Potter all the time, tightly and reassuringly, showing just how close their friendship was. But Draco was afraid she would interpret it wrongly that she would stop coming and stop sharing the news with him.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry’s awake,” the girl said one day and he felt like a heavy stone was lifted off his chest and he could breathe again, “Williamson attacked him in his hospital room. Ron was furious… he had a proper fight with the Healer that had let the bastard in. The Aurors say he had been under the Imerpius curse and his memories were altered.”<br/>
<br/>
“Who sent him?” Draco asked, his mind working furiously.<br/>
<br/>
“They are not sure… but it seems to me that you know the culprit,” Granger looked at him suspiciously.<br/>
<br/>
“I do,” he said simply. “Have you talked to Martha yet?”<br/>
<br/>
“The Bulstrodes have taken her back, or so the official papers say,” she replied.<br/>
<br/>
“So I am the only one who knows what happened to those kids,” he laughed bitterly. “Granger, do me a favor, show those memories you took from me to Shacklebolt. I bet he would find them… enlightening.”<br/>
<br/>
Inexplicably Granger took his hand and squeezed it gently, a small gesture of comfort Draco had craved for so long.<br/>
<br/>
“I will... after the incident at St. Mungo’s I am inclined to believe your side of the story” she smirked.<br/>
<br/>
“And you had doubts before?”<br/>
<br/>
“Malfoy, you have done too many questionable things for me to blindly trust you,” Granger explained, “I wasn’t sure what side were you on in this story… But Harry does, for some stupid reason he believes that you were doing the right thing. Don’t disappoint him.”<br/>
<br/>
“The things I plan to do to people who have done this to him and those kids will surely make him disappointed,” Draco looked at her with the fire in his eyes he didn’t know he possessed.<br/>
<br/>
She picked up that muggle book, leafing through countless relaxed pages that he had read, a sad smile on her lips, “Vigilante justice is not the way to go.”<br/><br/>
“I am not a bloody Gryffindor, Granger… I will make sure to plan everything,” he replied taking ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ away from the girl.</p><p> </p><p>The next morning he heard fast footsteps in the corridor, there was an argument with someone and then the door of his holding cell opened.<br/>
<br/>
“Malfoy, pick up your stuff and get out!” the guard barked, displeased, “You’re being released under house arrest by the special request of the Minister for Magic!”<br/>
<br/>
Draco blinked his eyes and stared at the man in disbelief. There was another Auror, a young woman holding a stack of papers and his wand for him.<br/>
<br/>
“You need to follow me,” she said briskly flicking her wand and binding Draco’s hands in steel.<br/>
<br/>
He walked next to her obediently, observing her curiously. She was probably as young as Elise was when she entered the Training Programme from those photos on Potter’s desk. Her uniform looked brand-new and her hair was neatly gathered in a work-appropriate ponytail. It seemed that she wanted to make a nice impression on her colleagues. Draco wondered whether he had any chance whatsoever to work for DMLE after everything that had transpired.<br/>
<br/>
The door to an indistinct office opened and he was ushered in. The blonde did not expect to see the Minister for Magic himself, sitting at the opposite side of an empty desk.<br/>
<br/>
“Thank you, er… Auror. Please wait outside until further orders,” Shacklebolt said and offered Draco a seat.<br/>
<br/>
He sat down, crossing his arms defensively and thinking about what that saint protege of the Order wanted from a Death Eater like him.<br/>
<br/>
“Mr. Malfoy, I assume you were informed about your release,” the man continued after casting an obscene amount of privacy spells at the door. “ There are certain conditions that need to be discussed immediately. I received a curious memory from Miss Granger she claims to acquire from you. The information you possess is beyond sensitive and it should not be spread around lightly.”<br/>
<br/>
“You want me to keep quiet about what I saw at the orphanage?” Draco smirked knowingly, even after a successful career as a hardened Auror he started behaving more and more like a politician.<br/>
<br/>
“You are a smart lad, I am glad I don’t have to explain it to you,” the Minister commented.<br/>
<br/>
“What will happen to the kids?” the blonde asked.<br/>
<br/>
“A team of Obliviators was sent to the place, all the memories that were not the original recollections of the pupils were erased. Some of them are ready to return to their original families. The eyewitness elf was freed by the mistress and is now employed at Hogwarts’ kitchens and as for the headmistress herself… She will receive counseling at St Mungo’s as per her deal agreement,” Shacklebolt’s voice was cold and uninvolved like he was reciting some boring clauses in the document and not talking about real people.<br/>
<br/>
“So what?! You’re just going to sweep this under the rug… That old hag… Whatever she did was criminal! She shouldn’t just get away with it!” Draco exclaimed, clenching his fists.<br/>
<br/>
He was a Slytherin, he realized that sometimes there things that could be overlooked. That is how his father managed to keep his high status and a prestigious position at the Ministry for so long. But that was Shacklebolt, a war hero, a person who fought tooth and nail with the corrupt bureaucrats he inherited after he was appointed the Acting Minister. And now he was willing to turn a blind eye on such a crime. For what? Some fucked up greater good motive?<br/>
<br/>
“You need to realize that the Orphanage was a dumping ground for undesirable children of Death Eaters for years. The woman who operated it provided everything for them, and she was a tremendous asset in taking down Voldemort. There is only this much the Ministry can do for them,” the Minister said simply.<br/>
<br/>
“They are just kids! Fuck their parents! Why do they have to suffer!” Draco shouted.<br/>
<br/>
He was a Death Eater’s child, Elise had been one as well. At that moment he was shown just how little the wizarding society cared about them.<br/>
<br/>
“We have done everything in our power to minimize their suffering, Mr. Malfoy. What else do you want?” Shacklebolt looked at him irritated.<br/>
<br/>
“Potter and Granger know too. Even if you shut me up, they will not let it slide!” the Slytherin said triumphantly.<br/>
<br/>
“Mister Potter and his friends believe in our cause and therefore will be complicit, especially since it concerns your freedom and safety,” the Minister replied and stood up and showed Draco that the conversation was over. “It is my advise for you to keep whatever you know to yourself if you don’t want to see your family’s... and Mr. Potter’s reputation plummet to the bottom.”<br/>
<br/>
Draco left the room in a foul mood, he saw that the young Auror who waited for him took out her wand as a precaution, but he just shook his head and walked with her down the corridor silently.<br/>
<br/>
Shacklebolt had so much leverage on him that whatever he tried would result in someone’s good name destroyed. He did not want to be out of his cell under such conditions. And yet he couldn’t go anywhere, he couldn’t even return to school. The lady explained that he would have to be confined to Aunt Andromeda’s house until it was time for him to take his NEWTS at Hogwarts. And what was worse of all, he under no circumstances should come near Harry Potter.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I reference two of the books on my favorite list<br/>The dream sequence was inspired by Yasutaka Tsutsui's 'Paprika'<br/>and the book Draco read in his holding cell is 'The Count of Monte Cristo' by Alexandre Dumas, a story of revenge and passion and hope. I think Draco's character will develop in that way.<br/>What about Harry? You will see pretty soon ;)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. House Unrest</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The beetle-green Ministry Ford Model B was waiting for him outside, a couple of grim-looking Aurors were standing next to it radiating authority. Draco took the box of personal things and sat in the back seat not meeting the eyes of his convoy men. The young witch sat next to him smiling apologetically, her wand never leaving her tight grip and pointing at his heart. For her, he probably looked like a dangerous criminal, an offspring of a Death Eater, a venomous animal ready to attack at any moment.<br/>
<br/>
Draco glanced at his expression in the rearview mirror and saw a malnourished, exhausted husk, gaunt haunted eyes, and unkempt dirty hair. He needed a bath and a proper meal and then he needed his drugs. He would turn his Aunts’ house upside down but he would find something, anything that would bring him a momentary feeling of oblivion.<br/>
<br/>
Tonks’ residence never impressed him like Malfoy Manor did even though Draco had spent almost all his life living there. The garden was small but well-kept and the house itself was smart, nicely-furnished although without any grandeur and snobbish love for antiques. He remembered that now it was his home, the Manor being torn down piece by piece and sold off at auctions or pocketed by the greedy Ministry clerks.<br/>
<br/>
“Mr. Malfoy, you are not permitted to leave the grounds of this residence under any circumstances, excluding life-threatening situations,” the female Auror read from her notes, “The floo network and your owl correspondence will be monitored 24/7, as well as anti-apparition wards, will be set up to ensure your compliance to the rules. Your mother and aunt are free to report any illegal activities you may conduct and if you fail to follow the release agreement it will be terminated and you will be sentenced to a five-year imprisonment in Azkaban.”<br/>
<br/>
Draco felt he was just given a bigger cell. He stepped out of the car and into his mother’s tight embrace, the Auror reluctantly returned his wand and a box of his measly possessions and after the wizards cast a few necessary spells the Ministry vehicle was gone.<br/>
<br/>
“My love, you are finally home,” Narcissa whispered, kissing his forehead and steering him towards the front door.<br/>
<br/>
He could see aunt Andromeda in the window, a sad smile on her beautiful face. She had Blacks’ strong jawline and deep-set eyes but her kind expression was completely different from her older sister Bellatrix whom she resembled.<br/>
<br/>
As soon as Draco had his long-awaited bath and meal he wanted to go to sleep. Thankfully his mother did not try to pester him that much, she probably understood from his grim appearance that he didn’t want to talk about anything that much.<br/>
<br/>
“You look a lot like him,” she said softly, straightening his robes that were too loose for him since his imprisonment, “Your father was a strong-willed man, even if you don’t think so, but the prison broke him... Please don’t ruminate over what happened, don’t let it haunt you. My boy, you have been through so much already.”<br/>
<br/>
Draco kissed her cheek and wiped away a stray tear there, he had never seen his mother like this, not even in the darkest days of the war. He understood that without Lucius she lost her footing and he was her only support. He did not have any delusions about his father anymore. He was a coward and a fool and he relied on Malfoys’ deep pockets more than on being a decent person.<br/>
<br/>
“I will try, mother,” he replied.<br/>
<br/>
“The Greengrass broke off the engagement as soon as they heard about your arrest,” Narcissa huffed angrily. “And to think of it! That girl had been going behind her father’s back with a muggle! We were doing them a service by agreeing to that marriage!”<br/>
<br/>
“Mum,” Draco started slowly, trying to read her mood, “You do know that I did not intend to marry… a woman.”<br/>
<br/>
“Oh, that silly thing…” she laughed for a moment but stopped when she saw his hurt expression. “I know, darling. I know…”</p><p>Draco was angry and exhausted, he searched every cupboard and every shelf and every secret storage and there was nothing. No potions and no useful ingredients growing in the garden. The Calming Draught his mother kept feeding him made him drowsy and unresponsive, so he had developed a habit of pouring in out on the unsuspecting house plants and putting protective spells on his morning brew. To add an insult to the injury he was running out of cigarettes and had to ration them to keep himself a bit more level-headed.<br/>
<br/>
It was the second weekend of February when he entered his nephew’s nursery to see Harry Potter playing with a child as though nothing had happened. He looked a bit more sickly than usual, a long stretch of bandages was wrapped around his shoulder and supported his arm on a sling, his hair a usual wild mess and his intense green eyes tired and bloodshot behind his round spectacles.<br/>
<br/>
“What are you doing here?” Draco asked, his expression dumbfounded.<br/>
<br/>
He knew that Potter woke up from his coma a couple of weeks ago but he did not expect him to be on his feet already, visiting his godson and appearing in his life so nonchalantly.<br/>
<br/>
“Hello to you too,” the Gryffindor smiled, letting Teddy go from his arms and taking a step closer to Draco.<br/>
<br/>
“How did you… have you been… are you alright?” the blonde mumbled incoherently, his eyes darting all over his body trying to find signs of lycanthropy.<br/>
<br/>
“I’m fine, I suppose,” Harry said, scratching his head sheepishly, “You?”<br/>
<br/>
“Dandy,” the Slytherin drawled sarcastically and then he wasn’t thinking.<br/>
<br/>
His actions spoke better than any words, when he crossed the space between them in quick long strides, cupped Potter’s face in his hands, and kissed him with everything he had. Draco's head was reeling, a long-forgotten euphoria rushing through his veins as he could taste those lips once more, as he could feel that fierce embrace, as he could once again succumb to the madness of being infatuated with this moronically brave boy.<br/>
<br/>
The floorboards creaked treacherously. There was a clank of porcelain and his Aunt cleared her throat loudly.<br/>
<br/>
“There’s tea for you, lads,” she said, “And Teddy needs his nap, Harry, don’t forget.”</p><p>* * * </p><p><br/>
</p><p>Harry was overly excited for two days straight, he had so much extra energy he spent his time dusting every surface of Grimmauld place and rearranging books and knick-knacks on the shelves. He couldn’t go back to Hogwarts just yet, the Healers said that he needed to spend two full moons without any symptoms to be able to return to his studies safely. His wounds were bothering him sometimes, especially when the weather got worse and it started snowing heavily again, but with the amount of potions, he took all the time he was surprised he could feel anything at all.<br/>
<br/>
Harry spent most of his days trying to fit the obscene amount of Molly Weasley’s cooking into his protesting stomach and go through a dangerously growing pile of notes that Hermione kept sending him from all the classes he had been missing. There was a long row of vials on his bedside table and he had to fight with his taste buds every time he consumed another nasty medicine. Although he felt a bit lonely by himself in the house, he was glad that Ron managed to convince the Healers to release him early. Harry would take wandering around old Blacks’ estate to being ogled at by random patients and being strangled by bewitched Aurors any day.<br/>
<br/>
And on Friday he assured Mrs. Weasley that he was fine enough to go out by himself and he went to visit Teddy. He didn’t expect to see Draco at Andromeda’s house. Of course, he heard the news about his release from Kinglsey, but they kept his location a secret so Harry was genuinely surprised to find a familiar blonde lad in his godson’s room. The Slytherin looked a bit roughed up but he was alive and free and this was enough for Harry’s treacherous heart to start beating faster when their eyes met. And then he kissed him and that was the only thing he could think about all the weekend.<br/>
<br/>
Narcissa sternly reminded him that he was not permitted to be around her son as per his house arrest conditions. And their tea was short and awkward and the tension in the room made Andromeda usher Harry away too early. He didn’t even have a chance to talk to Draco properly, that’s why he spent his evening plotting a way to meet again without any interruptions.<br/>
<br/>
There was a distant clatter on the second floor that made Harry forget about his cleaning and daydreaming. He stood up, looked out of the window to see the Auror that was stationed there sipping coffee from a paper cup idly and checking his watch. The Ministry was adamant about having the Grimmauld place under surveillance since he was bitten by a werewolf and his life was in danger, however, Harry though these people were just wasting their time and should have been looking for Yaxley instead. He did not remember the attack, but his gut was telling him that Draco was not responsible for it and he demanded his release as soon as Kingsley was in his hospital ward for a visit. The Minister shifted the responsibility to Robards who claimed that Malfoy was still their prime suspect and would not budge any further.<br/>
<br/>
There was another loud bang and Harry took out his wand and cautiously crept upstairs to investigate. The noise was coming from the library and the Gryffindor was wondering if a ghoul found a hideout in the cellars and he had to lure it out of there. The case that hid a secret passage shook dangerously and a couple of books fell to the floor. Harry took out the one that triggered the door to open and was prepared to be attacked by some creature. But instead of a pest, he saw annoyed-looking Draco Malfoy stepping into the room, dust on his robes and cobwebs in his hair.<br/>
<br/>
“What? How did you get here?” Harry asked flabbergasted.<br/>
<br/>
The blonde cast a spell to clean himself and smirked, “Aunt Andromeda showed me a passage that connects these two houses. Her place used to be a safe house for the Order of the Phoenix and there is an enchanted barrel of whiskey that works as a two way portkey between her house and here. It was for emergencies only, though.”<br/>
<br/>
“And what was your emergency then?” the dark-haired boy asked not hiding his happy smile.<br/>
<br/>
“I ran out of fags… and two middle-aged ladies are sitting around having tea all the time and… a baby… any company is better than that!” the Slytherin said lamely.<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t have any cigarettes either,” Harry gestured towards his injured arm implying that he wasn’t in any shape to be smoking.<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t care,” Draco replied and wrapped his arms around Harry in a tight embrace.<br/>
<br/>
They stayed there unable to speak, unable to move, their breaths mingling and their eyes burning with desire. And then Harry moved closer, kissing those thin lips and it felt like the first kiss he ever had, uncertain and intoxicating and beautiful. Something wild was awoken by the feeling of Draco’s mouth on his and he wanted to dive into that passion and never resurface.<br/>
<br/>
“Bedroom?” he suggested breathlessly, enjoying the blonde’s disheveled appearance.<br/>
<br/>
“I thought you’d never suggest,” Draco smirked and then he was leading the way like it was his house and his bed they were about to shag in.<br/>
<br/>
There was something different in their dynamic. Harry could not explain it at first but his need to be in charge this time was evident and somehow Draco was letting him take control. He was there, spread beneath him, scarred chest rising and falling with every laborious breath he took, looking stunningly beautiful.<br/>
<br/>
“Draco… I want… can I… Merlin, will you let me...” Harry blurted something that did not sound like a coherent sentence.<br/>
<br/>
“You want to shag me, don't you?” Draco whispered over his ear.<br/>
<br/>
He hooked his legs over Harry’s hips, forcing their pelvises closer, making their already aching cocks rub against each other. The Gryffindor nodded eagerly, getting lost in the sensation of their bodies slowly rocking together.<br/>
<br/>
“You know what to do, am I right?” the blonde asked him and there was another nervous nod, “Well, then… get to it. I’ve prepared myself already”, he added, an embarrassed flush coloring his cheeks.<br/>
<br/>
There was no way his cock could get any harder, but yet he felt like he was about to come just from the thought of Draco impaling himself on those talented fingers to get ready for him. He would never have imagined that a person who had been lecturing him about pureblood proprieties, was willing to let himself be fucked.<br/>
<br/>
“Come on…” Draco hissed and Harry felt a tingle of magic on his skin as the Slytherin went through his usual routine of protective incantations.<br/>
<br/>
He mused that he should have learned those himself as an afterthought, but then again only a few months ago he had a vague idea about any sex, let alone the wizarding kind.<br/>
<br/>
Slender fingers grasped Harry’s hand that was around his slick with lubrication cock and helped him guide it inside Draco. He heard that first broken gasp from the blonde as he entered him and his mind was completely gone, the only thing he wanted to do is to move, to take, to claim, to sink his teeth painfully into the pale skin, and to never let go. There was no more tenderness between them there was just insatiable want that couldn’t be quenched.<br/>
<br/>
They finished in a haze, two spent bodies searching for the last bits of pleasure and comfort, touching each other slowly, remembering every detail just in case it was the last time they would see each other.<br/>
<br/>
“I missed you so much,” he heard Draco whisper into his neck, his lips touching his skin on every syllable and that sounded like a declaration of love to him.<br/>
<br/>
“Me too,” Harry smiled, hugging him tightly with his healthy hand and feeling the strong steady rhythm of his heart under the fingertips. He was there, it wasn’t his imagination playing tricks on him.<br/>
<br/>
“What happened that night… when I was attacked?” Harry asked eventually and Draco looked at him with fear in his sleepy eyes.<br/>
<br/>
“I was trying to stop him… Harry, I tried… I couldn’t, I am so sorry,” the blonde whispered desperately.<br/>
<br/>
Harry noticed how he couldn’t look at his injury, how the sight of his bandaged shoulder made him shiver and shut his eyes tightly like he was afraid that that wound would harm him.<br/>
<br/>
“It was my stupidity that let this happen,” the Gryffindor exhaled.<br/>
<br/>
“No! You cannot always take the blame for my actions!” Draco exclaimed, “It was my fault! I was too proud to ask for help and went to deal with Yaxley by myself! I will not be running away anymore!”<br/>
<br/>
He stood up, covers sliding away from his body, and revealing all his pale slender form. Another rush of blood to his groin and strong feeling of desire made Harry inhale sharply. He wanted him again, he wanted to ravish that fragile body one more time.<br/>
<br/>
“Stay with me until morning, please… Don’t disappear like you do,” he pulled Draco back into his arms and kissed him fervently.</p><p>* * *</p><p>… long corridors… doors that would not open… crooked handmade toys and grotesque drawings on the walls… first unsure chords on the piano… one flat note killing the melody abruptly… girls laughing… hugging him… a colorful hairpin with a bright felt flower keeps his fringe at bay as he bends down to help them paint a poster… his fingers are covered in icing sugar as he fails to decorate the gingerbread hippogriff properly… a wand at little girls temple pulling a memory away… pulling her life away… a cruel smile of an older woman…<br/>
<br/>
Cold sweat was covering his body and his jaw was clenched painfully as Harry shook him awake and away from his nightmare.<br/>
<br/>
“Are you okay?” the dark-haired lad asked, worried green eyes were alight in the darkened room.<br/>
<br/>
He was enveloped by the warm arms, the sweet smell of caramel, bitter herbal scent of medicinal potions, and the strange chemical blend of muggle shampoo reassuring him and making the chill of the night terror ebb away. He never thought that it would feel so nice to be comforted by someone he’d grown to care about so much.<br/>
<br/>
“I… I saw the orphanage…” Draco replied hoarsely, pressing his head into Harry’s chest.<br/>
<br/>
“It’s going to be okay,” he felt a hand stroke his hair away from his forehead soothingly, “Kingsley assured me that they are taking care of it.”<br/>
<br/>
“By doing absolutely fucking nothing!” the blonde smirked bitterly, letting go of his embrace abruptly.<br/>
<br/>
“What do you mean?” Harry looked at him in disbelief.<br/>
<br/>
<em>Sancta simplicitas!</em> Potter trusted in the pureness and infallibility of his precious Order and it made Draco sick to his stomach.<br/>
<br/>
“Why are you such a child, Potter?!” he exclaimed annoyed. “Shacklebolt released me only because he was afraid I will make his little cover job public. My silence is his insurance to remain a Minister after letting this barmy hag keep operating the orphanage without any sanctions.”<br/>
<br/>
“Are you trying to tell me that they just let it all be like it is… And what about the kids?” Harry sat up in his bed, running his hands through his hair anxiously.<br/>
<br/>
“Obliviated,” the blonde replied shortly.<br/>
<br/>
“What?! We can’t… they can’t… we have to do something!” the Gryffindor was throwing the cowers off and putting his pajamas on clumsily.<br/>
<br/>
“There isn’t anything that can be done without bringing a lot of shit to the surface,” Draco explained, stretching a tentative hand towards Harry’s bandaged shoulder.<br/>
<br/>
“No! There is! I know just a person! Just… Just trust me, okay!” and then the foolish git was running downstairs, the door swinging in its frame like a pendulum after him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I wanted a nice fluffy moment of them reuniting once again but I just can't escape that drama. I think I should go easy on K-dramas and telenovelas :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Their Shattered Little World</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I like when actions in stories have consequences and although we can see how problematic their relationship is they still work somehow. That's what I like about those boys.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The morning was a mess, he barely dragged manic Potter from the fireplace, the Gryffindor was trying to 'fix everything' like he always did. Apparently asking Lovegood to print something in her father’s shady rag was his bright idea.<br/>
<br/>
Draco put his hand on the injured shoulder and Harry winced in pain, floo powder jar broke, shimmering sand was now scattered all over that wretched Persian rug.<br/>
<br/>
“Ow! What did you do that for?!” the dark-haired lad complained, prying his fingers away and giving him a hurt look.<br/>
<br/>
“Stop! Harry, what were you trying to accomplish by talking to her out of all people?!” the blonde snapped.<br/>
<br/>
“I was trying to help! They tried to silence you, but they cannot do that to me,” Potter exclaimed.<br/>
<br/>
Draco huffed in exasperation. He was sure that as soon as he left him alone the plonker would be sending owls and making visits and stirring up the doxies’ nest.<br/>
<br/>
“You need to stop,” he said warily, “You just… can you please stay out of it for once?!”<br/>
<br/>
“But why, Draco?” the Gryffindor asked a bit desperately, he was nursing his sore shoulder and his bandages started to seep through, Draco must have pulled him too hard.<br/>
<br/>
“Because shit doesn’t stick to you, Potter! It just doesn’t! You had about a dozen Unforgivables made with your wand and DLME didn’t even bother to check it, but they sure had questions about all those Sectumsepras you cast with mine!…” he accused, passing around angrily.<br/>
<br/>
“They probably…” Harry said weekly, twirling his wand in his hands awkwardly.<br/>
<br/>
“And when I was at that concert... nobody would’ve known about me playing there until your arse was there and so were the reporters! Can’t you see that every time you’re trying to help it just costs me and my family! You stalled the trials and my father was murdered by the vengeful Auror because we didn’t get what we deserved!” he was screaming, angry tears spilling from his eyes, and fists clenched ready for a punch. “You fucked with my memories… you could just let me rot in Azkaban, but no, you had to go there and be a bloody knight in shining armor! I am not your little project, Potter! You need to stop!”<br/>
<br/>
“But… I did it because I care about you! Did you want to be in Azkaban?! Wasn’t your stay the Ministry hold up enough?!” the Gryffindor yelled back, his eyes glinting dangerously.<br/>
<br/>
Draco noticed a dark red drop trickling down Potter’s arm and falling on the rug, making a splatter on the expensive wool. The bandages were soaked in blood, his wound must have reopened. A wave of nausea hit the blonde and he wanted to run away and hide, but he couldn’t just leave Harry alone.<br/>
<br/>
“Potter… your wound,” he mumbled, trying to fight his panic.<br/>
<br/>
“We’re not done! I am trying to explain…” the git kept shouting, oblivious to his problem.<br/>
<br/>
“Shut up! You’re bleeding,” he said sharply, grabbed the boy by his healthy arm, and dragged him to the bathroom.<br/>
<br/>
The tiles were cold under his feet, his nose was hit with that peculiar smell of muggle toiletries, the enchanted mirror complained about the mess they left on the floor and all over the bathtub, where Draco unceremoniously dumped all the soiled wound dressings.<br/>
<br/>
He unraveled strip after strip of dark crimson gauze and then he saw it. The nasty torn gash, half-healed, and covered in the thin layer of silver dust to keep it from festering. Another wave of sickness and terror overwhelmed him and before his eyes, he saw blood and torn intestines and Harry’s face pale and still as death. After that Draco knew he needed his fix of drugs to forget it all one way or another.<br/>
<br/>
“Just… splash some Dittany on it… it’s going to stop soon,” he heard Potter’s voice as though through cotton wool and then he knew he should move and do something.<br/>
<br/>
Draco had seen endless torture, cold-blooded murder, and people’s minds being invaded almost every day during the war, he could not faint just because of little blood. He summoned some of the healing elixirs and applied them generously over the Gryffindor’s shoulder. The lad would not even flinch, but Draco noticed that his teeth bit his bottom lip hard and tendons in his arms raised tight against his skin when he gripped the edge of the bath.<br/>
<br/>
“Hold on, Harry it’s going to be over soon…” he said soothingly, trying his best to work fast.<br/>
<br/>
They both exhaled heavily when the wound was covered with a fresh layer of silver and wrapped up again.<br/>
<br/>
“Was it bad?” Draco asked, vanishing the bloodied rubbish away.<br/>
<br/>
“Not really… it does that sometimes, I just did not expect it to be so much blood…” the foolhardy idiot smiled sheepishly.<br/>
<br/>
“What phase of the moon is it? Do you have any weird symptoms? Are you sure you’re not infected?!” the blonde barraged him with questions.<br/>
<br/>
“It is fine… I just need to take some potions,” Harry said sharply walking out of the bathroom.<br/>
<br/>
Draco whistled audibly when he saw his array of potions to be taken daily. It was a drug addict's dream: everything from pain killers and muscle relaxants to sedatives that would knock-out a troll, and all with their long list of side-effects. Werewolf’s bites took a long time to heal and he was surprised how Potter seemed to prance around the house like it wasn’t a big deal. Being heavily medicated was one of the reasons.<br/>
<br/>
He saw Harry’s Adam's apple bob as he emptied one vial after another. His hand was itching to snatch one of those away and down it himself.<br/>
<br/>
“I kind of get it now, Draco... Why you liked your Poppy stuff so much,” the Gryffindor sighed contently and settled on the covers, his eyes closed shut.<br/>
<br/>
“Are you going to be okay?” Draco whispered and heard no response, only slow and rhythmical breathing: inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.<br/>
<br/>
… a crack of a needle on the records’ surface and he can hear it… a melody that he once listened to in the Manor’s drawing-room… American and muggle and unlike anything he heard before in their pure-blood house… Jacques had sneaked a record off somewhere and he was explaining to him what swing was and why Moonlight Serenade was important… and then there was no Jacques…<br/>
<br/>
...Then he sees Potter, standing there in his usual hideous mockery of a jumper, an attractive smile on his face, his eyes glinting with mischief… <em>Care to dance?</em> the dark-haired lad asks… and he agrees, putting his hand on the Gryffindor’s waist and taking the lead… twirling them around… it is clumsy and he gets stepped on his toes way too many times but he likes it… he likes this incredible boy moving along with him… he likes that they can just stop in the middle and kiss...<br/>
<br/>
Draco blinked and noticed that he was on the bed next to Potter, it wasn’t the Manor. It was the burgundy and gold bedroom and there was an empty vial in his palm. So that dream was just the drugs, he was riding the wave of one of the Willow-Bark based Poppy potions he didn’t even remember the name of. At first, it made everything dance before his eyes and when he was lying on his back, there wasn’t a single thought in his brain and it felt glorious... and then he must have dozed off.<br/>
<br/>
He found Potter’s warm fingers, stroking them gently and intertwining them with his. It reminded him of their evening in the courtyard back at Hogwarts and he wanted to just be like that, not caring about the world outside of their little universe that consisted of one bedroom in the refurbished Victorian house.<br/>
<br/>
Of course sooner or later Potter would notice his potions were missing and get worried and then get angry and try to fix it all again. And they would fight about it and then their little world built out of wrinkled bed sheets and misshapen pillows and long skinny limbs intertwined in some bizarre human-bed hybrid would be destroyed by reality.<br/>
<br/>
“Draco?” he heard a sleepy voice mumble his name, “You still here… Aren’t your… folks going to worry?”<br/>
<br/>
He forgot how to make words, his tongue felt like a useless muscle flopping around inside his mouth, so he just shook his head.<br/>
<br/>
“I’m-a sleep… if you feel like going… you go, okay.” Potter said and it felt like he wasn’t addressing him, “Luna promised to owl… tomorrow.”<br/>
<br/>
<em>Ah, Lovegood... </em>He was supposed to stop whatever nonsense they were planning to do, but he felt too limp to do anything at the moment, the bint was going to wait.</p><p>* * *</p><p>It was the afternoon on the second day when Harry woke up to see that Draco was gone, and so were three vials from his supply. He counted the empty glasses and recounted them to make sure it wasn’t a mistake, but they were missing – those gross painkillers that made his mind fuzzy and lulled him to sleep more than anything. He sighed and put his hands in his hair with frustration, he didn’t expect him to relapse so easily. But without any decent support system and with Harry having to take all these potions he almost expected Draco to take some.<br/>
<br/>
The thought made him angry at himself, he was a shitty person, every time he was trying to help the Slytherin it would come out wrong and cock everything up even more. He needed to do at least one thing right, he got dressed and went out to see Luna about the article.<br/>
<br/>
* * *<br/>
<br/>
“How could you?!” was the first thing he heard when he stepped out of the cellar.<br/>
<br/>
Narcissa Malfoy was standing in front of him, looking like an angered veela.<br/>
<br/>
“Where were you? How did you manage to sneak off?” she demanded.<br/>
<br/>
“He was at Potter’s,” his Aunt answered for him, “Cissy, you should have seen the poor lad…”<br/>
<br/>
Draco closed his eyes shamefully, he didn’t want her to stand up for him like that, he didn’t need it. He could have just listened to his mother and did what he was told because it was his duty as the sole heir of the family to do so. He didn’t have any other siblings to cover for his mistakes and he realized that completely. What aunt Andromeda suggested offered too much freedom. And it was always frightening to have too much freedom.<br/>
<br/>
“That is none of your business, sister!” Narcissa replied sharply. “What have you been telling him? That he can just run off with whomever… just like you did?!”<br/>
<br/>
There was hurt written all over Andromeda’s face, she did not expect this kind of treatment in her own house.<br/>
<br/>
“I told him only the truth,” she tried to explain…<br/>
<br/>
“You did, didn’t you?! Have you also told him about uncle Alphard… What shame he brought upon the family?!” the other woman was relentless.<br/>
<br/>
Everyone and their nan knew about uncle Alphard, the first queer in Blacks’ bloodline to be demonstratively scorched off the family tree by his own well-wishing sister. He was a cautionary tale to those purebloods who refused to breed despite not being attracted to their match whatsoever. The fact that his mother brought it up was so ridiculous Draco wanted to roll his eyes at it.<br/>
<br/>
“Cissa, this is your son… you know him, he can’t help who he is. And Potter, he is a kind lad… look at how well he is with Teddy,” Andromeda pleaded.<br/>
<br/>
It was too much for him, to witness two estranged sisters who had spent all this time tentatively building bridges to be arguing over him. Over his stupidity over the fact that he was completely unable to resist being away from Potter too long. He ran off into the garden and stayed there in the snow-covered gazebo, feeling sorry for himself and worrying about the future.</p><p>* * *</p><p>The front door banged open unceremoniously and a squad of angry-looking people went inside, buttons shinning on their crimson uniforms, wands ready to attack and maim and kill if necessary. Aunt Andromeda ran out to them, shouting questions, baby wallowing in her arms incessantly. She was still wearing her nightgown, her hair in a loose braid.<br/>
<br/>
“We have a warrant to search the premises!” one of them said, pulling an official-looking parchment out of his robes.<br/>
<br/>
“On what grounds?!” she demanded, “The Ministry has no right…”<br/>
<br/>
And then she saw it. A copy of today’s Quibbler still fresh from the printing press was in Auror’s hands, giant red letters screamed “ORPHANS’ MEMORIES ALTERED. MINISTRY OBLIVIOUS. WHISTLE-BLOWER REPORTS”.<br/>
<br/>
“We have evidence to believe that your nephew has leaked classified information to the press and breached his house arrest conditions!” the same young lady said in a monotonous voice, looking around the inauspicious living room. “Is he about?”<br/>
<br/>
“Draco! Draco! Get in here! Now!” Andromeda exclaimed, her hands shaking, little Teddy still crying.<br/>
<br/>
He was there in the corridor, hidden under the disillusionment charm, watching a group of law enforcement trashing the sitting room, trying to find Merlin knows what. He had just emerged from the enclosed veranda, where he ended up sleeping last night, still a bit weak and drowsy from the potion he had taken. Draco hurried to his bedroom, took the remaining vials out of his secret hiding spot, and quickly vanished them.<br/>
<br/>
He heard Aunt call his name again hysterically and then he saw his mother rush into the room, her expensive robes draped over her nightdress, beautiful blonde locks spilling out of her sloppily made up-do.<br/>
<br/>
“What have you done?” she hissed, “Why are Aurors here? I haven’t seen you leave the house even…”<br/>
<br/>
“Mother, I haven’t…” Draco protested, his eyes were darting around wildly as he was trying to think what to do next.<br/>
<br/>
“It doesn’t matter, we need to go now!” Narcissa said in a no-nonsense tone of voice, “Hurry, pack only the things you need… we will escape through the garden.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Homenum Revelio</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Happy Birthday to my fellow Gemini, Draco Malfoy. He's trying his best to do the right thing here :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“A search? That’s preposterous!” Hermione exclaimed.<br/>
<br/>
Gryffindor's common room was glinting in green embers before him as Harry was kneeling in front of a fireplace at the Grimmauld place and discussing a disturbing owl he had received that morning.<br/>
<br/>
The Aurors showed up at Andromeda’s and trashed her house in search of the Malfoys, who were long gone before they even got past the sitting room. Harry was there the moment he got a message, and only his promise to look after Teddy while Andromeda was dealing with the damages stopped him from storming Kinglsey’s office and demanding answers right that second.<br/>
<br/>
The boy was sleeping soundly that evening when Harry sneaked out to the second-floor parlor to fire-call Ron and Hermione about what happened.<br/>
<br/>
“When I talked to Luna she assured me that the details were vague enough not to point at Draco specifically…” he mused and received an incredulous look from his friends.<br/>
<br/>
“Were you involved in that article in the Quibbler?” Hermione asked incredulously.<br/>
<br/>
“Er, yes… I think that’s ridiculous that those kids were mistreated and the person responsible for it just got a slap on the wrist!” he exclaimed.<br/>
<br/>
“I do too, mate, but you could’ve talked to us about it first…” Ron added quietly, “Malfoy’s on the run now, so it majorly cocks up his chances of ever being acquitted. Maybe Kingsley had his reasons to keep that lady free.”<br/>
<br/>
Harry did not expect his best friend to be so calm and rational when it came to his issues with Draco and he did not expect him to side with the Ministry on that one either.<br/>
<br/>
“I know, I fucked up, Ron!” he snapped. “But Kingsley failed to communicate those reasons to me and I am responsible for Draco so I should have known anything there is to know!”<br/>
<br/>
He hated when people went behind his back with their plans and he was sure that Shacklebolt knew about it, since they talked about Dumbledore after the war and how he ended up being a master puppeteer instead of a mentor for Harry.<br/>
<br/>
“Exactly! You’re his guarantor, mate! You should be the one to stop him from doing stupid shit, not the other way around!” the ginger retorted back.<br/>
<br/>
“Those were children! Orphans! Who don’t have anyone to stand up for them, Ron!” Harry yelled back not caring that another child was sleeping now far away.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry, I get it, I do… If you’re feeling better you can come to Hogwarts tomorrow and talk to McGonagall about it,” Hermione interrupted, trying to appease them.<br/>
<br/>
“I can’t,” he said gravely, “I’ve agreed to look after Teddy for a bit and I have to go to St. Mungo’s because I’m running out of potions.”<br/>
<br/>
“But you’ve received a fresh batch when you went for a check-up last week,” she said, “You are following the instructions, right?”<br/>
<br/>
“Yes, ‘Mione, I do. The truth is… some of them went missing.” Harry replied guiltily.<br/>
<br/>
He dreaded his friends’ reaction to the fact that Draco had started using again and stole some of his painkillers when he left. They would probably start accusing him of being a treacherous Slytherin snake or something along those lines.<br/>
<br/>
“It’s Malfoy. He’s back on the hook, isn’t he?” she stated.<br/>
<br/>
Harry nodded and exhaled tiredly, “It’s all my fault. I knew I should’ve stayed away when I discovered he was released… But he came to my house... on his own... and I didn’t think of hiding the potions…”<br/>
<br/>
“Mate, I don’t think you’re in the right state of mind to be helping Malfoy right now,” Ron concluded, “He’s got so much shit on his plate already and now he’s relapsed… I know you have feelings for him and all, but you two… Sometimes it seems you do more harm to each other than good.”<br/>
<br/>
“Brilliant, just bloody brilliant! So now I have to just sit and watch him being treated like a fugitive by the Ministry?!” Harry was refusing to listen to any of their advice at that moment.<br/>
<br/>
“We should ask somebody who knows what to do. McGonagall or Kingsley,” Hermione suggested, “I have been trying my best to find a wizarding attorney who would want to work for him, but the Malfoys’ reputation is so damaged after the news about Greyback’s attack hit the papers nobody wants to represent him.”<br/>
<br/>
The same thing happened during the Death Eater trials last summer, the wizarding community wanted to sever ties with the most public Voldemort supporters, however, those less influential families who did his bidding out of fear or prejudice were not targeted. That’s why Kingsley suggested talking to Elise Baelish to Harry in the first place, she had a great reputation in the judicial system and her expertise could show even the most coldhearted member of Wizengamot that Draco wasn’t doing all those things because the thought that Tom Riddle was a swell bloke.<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t even know if he’s not captured by the Aurors now. I’ve sent him countless Patronuses!” Harry lamented. “I can’t just let it all go! You both need to understand that!”<br/>
<br/>
The feeling of uselessness was suffocating for him, he hated that everything was out of his control yet again and the more he thought about it the less it seemed like there was a chance to make it right. All he wanted was to have a normal year after the war, but his inability to make it work with Ginny and his constant meddling in Draco’s business made it impossible. He couldn’t just quit him, it looked like Malfoy didn’t have anyone who would have his back, and Harry wanted to be that person.</p><p>* * * </p><p>His fingers felt frozen to a steering wheel, a horrible-tasting muggle cigarette was smoldering between his clenched teeth, his eyes were concentrated on navigating the motorway, the Mercedes was as fast as a racecar, looping around sluggish muggle vehicles towards London. Draco managed to go through several roadblocks without much hustle, his mother cast a Confundus here an Imperius there. He didn’t know their final destination but he needed to be on the road, to listen to the rain drumming against the windscreen and tires whooshing on the wet asphalt. It kept his mind from diving into an abyss of anxiety that was making his heartbeat fluttered like a captured bird in his rib-cage.<br/>
<br/>
“Darling, we need to get to that safe-house I was in…” Narcissa spoke when they were already in the City.<br/>
<br/>
“You were attacked there… it is unsafe anymore, mother!” Draco protested, remembering their lucky escape from the wretched muggle flat.<br/>
<br/>
Memories of that strange ride in the underground train overwhelmed him: his arm was bleeding, and Potter was pressed to him on that filthy bench, his hands grasping his limbs painfully, his raspy young voice whispering over his ear something, whips of air tickling his skin, making his body shiver.<br/>
<br/>
Their first duel together: spells firing every which way, Harry’s serious face, his eyes glinting dangerously as he tried to overpower his opponent. They were like two different voices singing in the same harmony, their magic shining and strumming together, their spells working in the same rhythm. That intoxicating dance with danger had made Draco embarrassingly hard and that’s when he got hit with a Slicing Curse.<br/>
<br/>
“It is a meeting place with a person who shall secure us an international portkey to safety,” Narcissa explained.<br/>
<br/>
“Who is that person?” Draco was curious. It all sounded quite fishy and he was wondering whether it was another elaborate trap by the Ministry or former Death Eaters.<br/>
<br/>
“Auror Proudfoot,” she said quietly.<br/>
<br/>
The Mercedes swerved dangerously as the blonde moved towards the curb and hit the breaks suddenly.<br/>
<br/>
“Are you out of your mind?!... That idiot?! He is Robard’s dog through and through!” he exclaimed.<br/>
<br/>
His mother's hand was on his arm, stroking soothingly, her annoyance gone completely. She glanced at him guiltily and continued, “There isn’t a dog which cannot be charmed by a woman’s touch…”<br/>
<br/>
“Mother?! What are you saying… That you… that you had an affair with that… that pig?!” Draco couldn’t believe it.<br/>
<br/>
He knew Narcissa would go over and beyond to ensure their safety after the Father’s death but he did not expect her to go that far. His stomach churned at the thought of that nasty man’s hands being all over his beautiful mother.<br/>
<br/>
“He was a security detail on my probation… I have noticed his hungry looks so I had to do something... and having a person on the inside is very useful.”<br/>
<br/>
“What about the memory of Father?! How could you do it to him?!” Draco shouted, anger sizzling inside him like a nasty acid, poisoning his mind.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh, you might not be aware of it, but your Father had countless affairs, some of them with muggle women!” Narcissa huffed, “Pureblood marriages are rarely built on love, my sweet, you ought to know that by now.”<br/>
<br/>
“So you expect me to understand whatever you have been doing with that bloody Auror?! But you have a problem with me and… Potter,” he ended quietly.<br/>
<br/>
“Draco… That boy has all the eyes and ears on him. Your relationship will not bring anything good, you will just be ridiculed in the press… Hasn’t our family suffered enough already?” the woman asked.<br/>
<br/>
“At least I love him! Unlike you and father! I don’t even know why I have to continue to sacrifice for this farce you call family?!” Draco blurted and then stopped.<br/>
<br/>
“My boy…”<br/>
<br/>
What did he just admit? <em>Love…</em> love was a strong word, too strong to say it out loud, too gravely final. <em>He was in love with Potter...</em> not just wanted him, not longed for the feeling of his body under his touch. The realization hit him like a bludger and thoughts swarmed in his head like angry doxies… He didn’t want to run away like a coward, he would even forgive the git his stunt in the Quibbler, he would forgive him a murder if the occasion called for it… he just wanted to be with him again, to see that toothy smile, to hear those awkward jokes and backhanded compliments. But most importantly he needed to pay back to that bastard Yaxley for bringing Greyback to the handoff, for hurting him.<br/>
<br/>
“We can’t go to that man just yet, mother!” Draco said determined, “I still have some unfinished business in London…”</p><p>* * *</p><p>The corridors of St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries smelled like potions and strong disinfectant, Healers were hurrying back and forth, their lime green and mint robes blurring in Harry’s tired eyes. Constant throbbing pain was making his mind fuzzy and his body unresponsive. He needed to get a fresh batch of potions as soon as possible. He moved sluggishly towards the "Dangerous" Dai Llewellyn Ward for Serious Bites and hoped that his least favorite Mediwitch was on the ward today.<br/>
<br/>
“Mister Potter?” someone called him.<br/>
<br/>
A young wizard with a rickety stack of clipboards stopped in front of him, grinning from ear to ear. That was his attractive nurse with a soothing voice and nice muscular arms. He remembered how his careful hands would touch him as the lad changed his bandages.<br/>
<br/>
“Kevin,” Harry smiled back. “Is the Chimera about?”<br/>
<br/>
“You are going to have to wait a bit, I am afraid. She’s on the third floor. The ward is full after those off-brand love potions had started circulating… it always like this in February,” he replied apologetically.<br/>
<br/>
He ushered Harry towards an examination room, flicked a wand and all the clipboards flew along the corridor towards their appropriate destinations.<br/>
<br/>
“Let’s see how we’re doing with that bite,” Kevin muttered, and slowly unwrapped the bandages, “Who bandaged you? Looks quite professional”<br/>
<br/>
Harry remembered how Draco had helped him in the bathroom, he was angry and completely out of sorts but he managed to assist nevertheless, taking a no-nonsense approach and doing his job fast and efficiently. He had been wondering how many times the blonde had to treat his injuries to become that used to it, the thought had been quite disturbing.<br/>
<br/>
“Erm, a friend…” the Gryffindor blushed.<br/>
<br/>
“Ooh, a mediwitch? Anyone I know?” the nurse winked knowingly, and examined his injury, “Looks fine to me, just a couple of weeks and you will be able to return to your studies.”<br/>
<br/>
“It’s… erm, not anybody from St. Mungo…” Harry babbled, somehow being half-naked and under a speculative gaze of that man made him too flustered for his own good.<br/>
<br/>
“I sure hope it’s not Ella… she did mess up so badly letting that loony Auror into your room,” Kevin huffed.<br/>
<br/>
He applied a couple of different ointments on Harry’s shoulder and pain shot through him like he had been hit by a flash of lightning.<br/>
<br/>
“Hurts?” the man asked. “That new stuff is a bit potent… But it works with those nasty wounds the best. You have your painkillers, right?”<br/>
<br/>
“About that, I came here because I ran out of them… a tad,” he explained wearily.<br/>
<br/>
“Really? Haven’t been using them for fun, have you?” Kevin looked at him suspiciously.<br/>
<br/>
Harry could not admit to him that Draco Malfoy had stolen some and that’s why he was in this predicament at the moment.<br/>
<br/>
“No, sir,” he said.<br/>
<br/>
“Well, you know that only Healer Cameron can sign the prescriptions, so it is up to her,” the nurse warned. “But if I were you, I would be very careful with overusing some of them!”<br/>
<br/>
Cannenta Cameron was the one everyone called Chimera in the ward, her nasty temper and crude gallows humor was one of the reasons. Harry was a bit scared of the woman, there was an uncanny resemblance to old Snape, even though the lady was fiercely protective over her patients.<br/>
<br/>
“Erm, is the loony Auror still here? I heard he was under the Imperius Curse,” Harry asked carefully trying to change the subject.<br/>
<br/>
“Janus Thickey,” Kevin replied instantly, “Poor sod, he’s not the first from DMLE to get his brains fried up with the Imperius… But at least I heard they managed to restore some of his memories.”<br/>
<br/>
A crazy idea was gnawing at his mind, he wanted to see what Williamson could tell about the person who bewitched him and why he was trying to kill him.<br/>
<br/>
“I might go to the cafeteria for a bit,” Harry lied, “I am a bit famished. I will come back to see if the woman’s back.”<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t get the tuna sandwich, that stuff is unfit for human consumption,” the nurse advised and waved him off.<br/>
<br/>
As soon as Harry was out of his sight, he took out his Invisibility Cloak and headed to the elevators, his tiredness miraculously vanishing.<br/>
<br/>
He knew that the Aurors would be guarding the room where unstable Oliver Williamson was confined to, but he did not expect the guard to be so distracted by the magazine he was reading and the magical wards on the door to give in so easily under his spells. It was way too easy and he was wondering whether someone else had already made sure that the man would not speak the truth.<br/>
<br/>
But despite Harry’s suspicions, Williamson was sitting on his bed leisurely, trying to fish out the last piece of jelly out of his cup with a spoon. He did not even notice that somebody invisible had opened the door and now was standing in the room.<br/>
<br/>
The Gryffindor cast a couple of privacy spells that would notify him if someone was to open the door and crept up towards the man. He looked surprisingly normal and non-threatening, his long hair no longer pulled into a pony-tail but a wild mop around his face.<br/>
<br/>
“Mister Williamson,” Harry exhaled, pulling the Cloak off, “I am here to ask a couple of questions.”<br/>
<br/>
“Auror… yes, sure, sir,” the man babbled, sitting up a bit straighter and saluting him like Harry had been his superior. “What is there you would like to know?”<br/>
<br/>
The Auror was completely out of it, he somehow mistook Harry, who was wearing a muggle red hoodie and jeans as someone from DMLE, which was hilarious albeit a bit messed up.<br/>
<br/>
“Who ordered an attack on Potter in the hospital room?” he asked tentatively not being sure if it was a good idea after all.<br/>
<br/>
“You, sir,” Williamson blurted without hesitation.<br/>
<br/>
“Me?! Er, who am I… again?” Harry inquired.<br/>
<br/>
“Corban Yaxley, sir. Head of the DMLE,” the Auror replied.<br/>
<br/>
Yaxley was involved after all, and that man thought that Harry out of all people looked like the Death Eater.<br/>
<br/>
“What about Elise Baelish? Who is responsible for her murder?” he continued his impromptu interrogation.<br/>
<br/>
“It was me, sir… Auntie said she needed to be stopped since she leaked the information about the raid to you, sir, and so I stopped her…” Williamson admitted.<br/>
<br/>
As Draco had suspected before: the matron from the orphanage was involved in Elise’s death and Williamson was just a muscle to do the deed. Poor man had been used by both of those horrible people, no wonder his mind was so confused he did not even know who he was speaking to.<br/>
<br/>
“Who is this Auntie? Does she even have a name?” he asked tentatively.<br/>
<br/>
“I cannot disclose that, sir,” the man replied curtly.<br/>
<br/>
“Is she a pureblood, a half-blood? Is she even human?” Harry huffed, frustrated that he didn’t receive any tangible information.<br/>
<br/>
“It is classified, sir,” Williamson repeated robotically.<br/>
<br/>
“What about the time you tried to kill Narcissa Malfoy?” he continued.<br/>
<br/>
“Sir, don’t you remember your orders? Auror Proudfoot was supposed to deal with Lucius and my task was the woman and the kid. These people knew too much,” the man looked at him suspiciously.<br/>
<br/>
“Er, I do remember that… So is Proudfoot also involved?” Harry pressed on, remembering that the man was at Hogwarts on countless occasions instructing the classes and encouraging the students to enroll in the DMLE Training Programme.<br/>
<br/>
That man was also trying his best to find as much dirt as possible on Draco and destroyed his <em>Tibi et Igni</em> letter. How many more of the Aurors were willingly or unwillingly still working for the administration of Voldemort’s ministry?<br/>
<br/>
“Auror Proudfoot is on a special mission now…” Williamson started and then the door to his hospital room glowed blue and Harry hurried to hide under his Invisibility Cloak.<br/>
<br/>
A young witch went in, eyeing the babbling Auror apprehensively, “Ollie, are you quite alright? Who were you talking to? <em>Homenum revelio</em>”<br/>
Harry’s body started shining and he knew it was time for him to run.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. The Beast Within</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Well, what can I say,  it has been a while.</p><p>I was so enthusiastic at the beginning of the quarantine to write this story but the news about JKR's unapologetic transphobia and my abysmal work schedule completely ruined all my plans.<br/>However, now I am more than determined to finish it and maybe there will be a sequel in the future as well.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Mister Potter, I am asking you for the last time… What were you doing in the hospital room of our suspect?” Gawain Robards’ face was as red as uncle Vernon’s would be when he was especially furious, but he tried to keep his voice as calm as possible.<br/>
<br/>
There were three people in the St. Mungo’s waiting room turned into the interrogation chamber – a young witch, probably still a few years after her training, an Auror, who was guarding Williamson’s door and inexplicably the Head of the Auror Office himself. They were all looking at Harry who sat uncomfortably in the rickety armchair, his arms folded defensively, and his eyes burning with righteous anger.<br/>
<br/>
“I have already told you… I would speak only to Kingsley!” Harry repeated irritably, emphasizing every word.<br/>
<br/>
“The minister is attending other pressing matters right now…” the witch started, but Robards just waved her off.<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t bother, he’s a stubborn one… Just send the Patronus already, or we’ll be here all day!” he barked. “I wish you would cooperate, Potter. We are all on your side, for once…”<br/>
<br/>
“Oh, I’m starting to doubt that,” the Gryffindor rolled his eyes.<br/>
<br/>
The situation was utterly ridiculous. He managed to get caught by a simple trip jinx while he was running down the corridor and away from the Yanus Thickey ward before he could find a fireplace or a spot not protected by the anti-apparition wards. He tumbled to the ground rather ungracefully, landing on his injured shoulder’s side, his glasses making a painful crunch on the tiled floor. He didn’t even have a chance to fix them up properly, so all one of his eyes could see was a spiderweb of cracks on the lens and his shoulder was throbbing incessantly, the bandages were getting wetter and warmer as precious time was being wasted on useless bickering.<br/>
<br/>
And to make matters worse he was now surrounded by thoroughly annoyed Aurors who were itching to just beat the truth out of him. Harry being a Savior of the Wizarding World had saved him from being thrown into the ministry’s holding cell and interrogated part but he didn’t know how much longer he would have to drag out the inevitable if Kingsley didn’t show.<br/>
<br/>
There was an argument in the corridor and then Kevin, his young attractive nurse, burst into the waiting room followed by two determined-looking uniformed Aurors.<br/>
<br/>
“What is the meaning of this?!” Robards was pointing his wand at the mediwizard.<br/>
<br/>
“That is my exact question, er, sir,” Kevin gave him an incredulous look and then glanced at Harry worryingly. “Why is my patient that is in dire need of medical attention apprehended by Aurors?”<br/>
<br/>
“Your patient has walked into the restricted access room without any problems,” the young witch said sternly not letting the nurse come through to where Harry was sitting on the tattered sofa.<br/>
<br/>
“Is he arrested?” Kevin asked scorching the female Auror with the most disdainful glare.<br/>
<br/>
“Yes!” the girl replied with a huff.<br/>
<br/>
“On what grounds?” the man wasn’t giving up.<br/>
<br/>
“It is, frankly, none of your business, nurse!” she retorted, hastily taking out her wand.<br/>
<br/>
“Amanda, that’s quite enough. He is a medical staff, let him through,” Robards exhaled warily, giving Kevin a room to pass through.<br/>
<br/>
He hurried over to where Harry was sitting, performed a couple of diagnostic spells, and carefully peeked under the layers of bled through gauze.<br/>
<br/>
“I need to take Mister Potter to the examination room immediately!” Kevin announced urgently.<br/>
<br/>
It must have looked pretty bad because the nurse was alert and ready to curse every single law enforcement in the room if they hadn’t gotten out of the way.<br/>
<br/>
“Sir! We can’t just let Potter go where he pleases,” the shrill girl from before looked at Robards, scandalized, “What if he tries to flee again?!”<br/>
<br/>
“Go with them!” the Head Auror barked and Amanda nodded seriously.<br/>
<br/>
They were in the same wretched corridor: Harry who was gently guided by Kevin and the female Auror who was glaring at them with ever-growing suspicion.<br/>
<br/>
“I would ask you to remain outside to protect healer-patient privilege,” the nurse told her coldly and to Harry surprise, the man ushered him not to a standard exam chamber but some healer’s office.<br/>
<br/>
There were the usual potion cabinets that lined the walls, a heavy mahogany desk with various models of bones and organs on it, an examination table with various medical equipment, some of which looked muggle and... a fireplace. Was Kevin actually helping Harry escape?<br/>
<br/>
“Kevin, I appreciate your concern, but I really need to go…” he whispered, his eyes darting around the room in search of some floo powder to quickly throw into the hearth.<br/>
<br/>
He didn’t have his wand on him, but anything was better than being stuck around people who didn’t realize that Yaxley had infiltrated the force and was probably scheming something sinister at that very moment.<br/>
<br/>
“Not so fast, Harry… Your wound has reopened again, I really need to take a look at it before you go anywhere,” the nurse was adamant and Harry had no choice but to endure yet another painful re-wrapping.<br/>
<br/>
Harry’s shoulder jolted with pain yet again as some medicine was poured over the nasty gash. The wound looked even worse than it did that morning. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, patiently waiting for the ache to subside, at that moment he didn’t notice a muggle syringe in Kevin’s hand. Harry felt a prickle of the needle somewhere in his neck…<br/>
<br/>
<em>Kevin… what in the Merlin’s…</em><br/>
<br/>
The world swayed around him, as he tried to grasp for something, a couple of trays with medical supplies tumbled down to the ground, causing quite a racket. Maybe the annoying girl in the corridor would notice and come to his rescue.<br/>
<br/>
<em>Calm down … It’s going to be over soon…</em><br/>
<br/>
The nurse’s voice was distorted and sounded either too low or too high-pitched, Harry couldn’t comprehend at that moment. He scrambled towards the fireplace, frantically trying to keep his mind concentrated on the escape...<br/>
<br/>
<em>There’s no use running...</em><br/>
<br/>
The surroundings became even more blurry than before until his eyelids became too heavy to keep his eyes open and everything was enveloped in darkness.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
* * *<br/>
<br/>
The muggle hotel they were currently staying in smelled of mold, mothballs, and stale smoke. The walls were covered in sickly beige wallpaper and the bedding had to be cleaned a couple of times with the strongest Scourgify for Draco to be able to sleep on it normally. He would stare into the darkness, his tired eyes tracing cracks in the plaster on the ceiling and his painfully sober mind trying to come up with some sort of plan. Draco might have convinced his mother that he knew what to do when he decided not to ask that Auror for help, but the truth was that he was just trying to survive at that moment.<br/>
<br/>
They were on the run and it would only be a matter of time until the DMLE would trace their magical signatures to that lousy muggle abode. He dreaded the moment when he would inevitably end up in Azkaban and never able to see Potter again. There was a slim chance that the Gryffindor would have liked to see him in the first place after he had betrayed his trust and stole his potions. But Draco wanted to pretend that somewhere Harry was still waiting for him and there was some future for them. He would have sworn he saw a silver shadow of a Patronus pass the dirty window before his mother insisted on putting up all the wards and shutting the curtains tight so as not to attract unwanted attention.<br/>
<br/>
The morning came suddenly and Draco didn’t get a wink of sleep, he looked around sluggishly, forgetting for a moment that he wasn’t in the burgundy bedroom at the Grimmauld place. Narcissa was still in her bed, wand clutched tightly in her slender fingers.<br/>
<br/>
He stood up and stretched, his bones and joints cracking unpleasantly from being too long in one position. A flick of his wand erased the wrinkles in his muggle clothes he nicked from the dusty shop earlier, and he shook his head disappointingly at his reflection. Why did he even bother anymore?<br/>
<br/>
There was a loud metallic screeching sound, then another. Draco whipped his head towards the noise. It was coming from a black muggle device propped on the coffee table next to a Bible and a yellowed room service menu. A telephone was ringing loudly at the ungodly hour in the morning. He picked up, blood rushing in his ears, cleared his throat, and said:<br/>
<br/>
“Hello.”<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
* * *<br/>
<br/>
The sharp smell of ammonia hit his nostrils, then there was a slap on his cheeks and Harry saw blurry Kevin’s face in front of him. The chamber he was in did not look like a hospital room, the ceiling was too high and the furniture was way too expensive. He tried to move but his arms and legs were bound by magical ropes and he could feel the tip of the wand pressed to his throat.<br/>
<br/>
“Easy there, Harry, I don’t want to hurt you,” the nurse gave him a lopsided grin. He felt fingers trying to pry his clenched jaws open and then a bitter liquid on his tongue, he was being drugged yet again.<br/>
<br/>
Harry wrenched his head away from his grip and spat out the potion, the taste still lingered in his mouth and he was wondering if it would still be enough to work. He was breathing heavily, too scared to swallow his own saliva. There was no way he could induce the vomiting, his hands were tied and his mind was still bleary from whatever tranquilizer that was there in the muggle injection.<br/>
<br/>
“Why are you doing this?” Harry demanded, “Who’s making you?... If it is Yaxley… You need to realize that he is going to kill you too afterward…”<br/>
<br/>
There was a chuckle and somebody else in the room stepped towards them. It wasn’t a notorious Death Eater, it was the same stern-looking old lady he saw when they visited Saint Barbara’s orphanage before. She approached him without any hesitation, her eyes studying his face curiously.<br/>
<br/>
“There’s no need to worry, Potter, you weren’t poisoned,” the woman replied. “This is a rather curious concoction that might help reveal your… true nature”.<br/>
<br/>
With the flick of her wand, the heavy curtains were pulled away from the window and he could see that it was already sundown, dark snow clouds still lingered in the sky, covering the face of the full moon.<br/>
<br/>
“It’s too bad about the weather though… I guess we just need to wait a bit,” the auntie tsked and continued staring at Harry as though anticipating some dramatic change to happen.<br/>
<br/>
“What did you give me? What do you want?!” he demanded.<br/>
<br/>
Harry’s heart was beating rapidly in his chest and the goosebumps appeared on his skin, it felt as though he was in one of those vivid night terrors. He could sense the faintest sounds and smells around him: the rustle of bare branches of the trees outside, the steady breathing of people in the room, the herbal aroma of spilled potion, the light fragrance of Kevin’s aftershave and suffocating smell of old-fashioned perfume on the orphanage matron. There was so much untamed energy that stirred inside him and if Harry tried he could easily break the spell on the charmed ropes and set himself free. The thing that was stopping him was the alarming realization that he wouldn’t know what he would do with his captors if he was not restrained. The unquenchable desire to hurt them was bubbling in his gut and making him terrified of himself.<br/>
<br/>
“You see, Potter. You should have never come here looking for answers,” the old lady spoke again. “I thought that by helping Dumbledore I would avoid the humiliation of being registered as a magical creature… And it worked to some extent. Nobody batted an eye that someone like me was looking after wizarding children, until you and that Malfoy brat started to dig… Luckily I have quite a talent when it comes to being persuasive…” the auntie smirked and for a moment it looked as though her face turned into an ugly scowl and instead of the long straight nose and thin lips was a beak of some sort of predatory creature.<br/>
<br/>
<em>Veela… that woman was not a simple witch…</em><br/>
<br/>
Harry should have realized it sooner. The auntie had been using other men to do her dirty work and it had worked way better than any Imperius Curse. Fist Williamson and then poor Kevin. He was always so nice to Harry and even his shameless flirting was too innocent. He would never try drugging him on purpose.<br/>
<br/>
“We didn’t try to expose you… we were just trying to figure out what happened to Elise’s memories. You were the one who was using the children to keep them!” the Gryffindor shouted at her angrily.<br/>
<br/>
“And was there any harm done?” the woman asked simply. “ Those younglings have no recollection of their minds being meddled with… However now… after you’ve exposed me to the press, they have no place to go anymore… It is all your fault, Potter. And to think of it! You are an orphan as well. Have you no compassion?”<br/>
<br/>
“What do you want now?! Why get Kevin involved?! Let him go… if you want to have your vengeance. It is me you should only deal with!” Harry pleaded.<br/>
<br/>
“Vengeance?!” Auntie laughed and hew voice sounded like a cry of the bird of prey. “You sure have a taste for dramatics, Potter… It is just the case of a destroyed reputation. I just want others to treat you like they treat me now… as a dangerous predator, that shouldn’t be around children.”<br/>
<br/>
The dim room was suddenly bright as day, the cold light of the full moon was streaming from the tall windows not covered by the clouds anymore.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
* * *<br/>
<br/>
<em>“Fucking... stupid... moronic… dim-witted… twat!” </em>Draco cursed loudly and kicked the tire of his car angrily.<br/>
<br/>
Draco got to the parking lot in front of the hotel. He examined his Mercedes once more, there were no tracking charms, even the ones that couldn’t be so easily detected and all the protective wards were still in place, and yet he had a feeling that something must have been wrong with it since Potter managed to find out where he was.<br/>
<br/>
His fingers were violently fidgeting with an unlit cigarette, as he was trying to find his wand in the pockets of his muggle hiking jacket from that ruddy muggle second-hand shop. Earlier that morning he received a disturbing phone call from Millicent Bullstrode of all people.<br/>
<br/>
“Draco, ‘s that you?” she asked over the line, “Martha and I went back to Saint Barbara’s to pick up her things and we found Potter… you should get there quick!”<br/>
<br/>
“How do you know my whereabouts? And how do I know it is not some sort of set up?!” he demanded, now willing to believe that somehow his hideaway was common knowledge and that Harry was in danger.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh would you stop with that now?!” the girl huffed impatiently. “I found your address and this number in his pocket… he looks badly injured though… I wonder if I should call the Aurors.”<br/>
<br/>
“DON’T!” Draco’s voice was embarrassingly shrill,  “Millie, whatever you do, don’t call the Aurors.”<br/>
<br/>
“That’s what I thought too,” Millicent agreed, “ You need to come here though, I am not sure he will be fine by himself… There’s so much blood.”<br/>
<br/>
“H-how do I know, it’s really you?” the blonde asked as an afterthought.<br/>
<br/>
“You have been mooning over Potter for so many years, it was genuinely disturbing, and Pansy was nagging me about it all the time too. Now it looks like you lads are actually… erm, involved, so… he needs you, Dray, and I need to get Martha out of here!”<br/>
<br/>
Her last words were still ringing in his ears, 	when he quickly jumped into the driver’s seat and floored the gas pedal without hesitation.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. The Offer</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I promise I know where this plot is going  :)<br/>I just need a couple more chapters for all of it to pay off and then there is a nice foundation for the sequel.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>…The pleading screams of the man in front of him were still ringing in his ears. It was pathetic to see him like that, hiding away in the cupboard a broken wand clenched in his hand and his lime-green robes covered in blood and urine. He could see his chest rising and falling, he could hear the frantic beating of his heart and the wheezing of air in his throat and his lungs. He could probably kill him with his bare hands. Just close his fingers around his throat and squeeze…</b><br/>
<br/>
… Harry’s forehead was pressed to the cold glass, the raindrops were running diagonally across the window. He was in the car, it looked suspiciously like Draco’s black Mercedes. It smelled similar too – a lingering scent of tobacco and Earl Grey tea in the air. Harry didn’t know where he was going. He couldn’t make out the surroundings, there was only the asphalt road lit by the brightness of the full moon in the sky.<br/>
<br/>
“I always liked driving at night,” somebody said from the backseat. A female voice.<br/>
<br/>
“Elise? Is that you?” Harry asked carefully.<br/>
<br/>
“You’re not surprised anymore,” she chuckled and gave him a sympathetic smile.<br/>
<br/>
“Why is it you that I always see in my head?” he let out a frustrated sigh.<br/>
<br/>
“Dunno… Guilt?” her face morphed to Ginny’s confident freckled grin, “You fancy me?” red hair turned platinum blonde and Draco was smirking at him, “You’re a tad loony?” Malfoy’s stuck up expression became softer and grew a pair of Luna’s spectrespecs … “Pick whichever,” Baelish shrugged her shoulders and lit a cigarette between her teeth.<br/>
<br/>
“So, where are we going?” the girl looked at the road ahead.<br/>
<br/>
It was so surreal: one could clearly see the smooth stretch of wet glistening tarmac but it was impossible to tell where the motorway was taking them.<br/>
<br/>
“I… er… have no clue,” the Gryffindor said lamely.<br/>
<br/>
“Who’s at the wheel, then?” she cocked her head curiously, nodding towards the silhouette on Harry’s right.<br/><br/>
“It’s me,” he replied without hesitation.<br/>
<br/>
The person driving had the same messy dark hair and round spectacles, he even wore the same Weasley sweater and washed-off flannel. Still, something felt a bit off about him. Harry couldn’t understand it. Maybe it was his tight grip on the steering wheel or maybe that was the fact that he wasn’t able to see the driver’s face properly.<br/>
<br/>
“Are you sure it’s you though?” Elise hummed and took another drag out of her Marlboro, letting out a cloud of thick smoke into the car.<br/>
<br/>
“Of course it’s me, who else could it be?” Harry protested crossing his arms defensively.<br/>
<br/>
“Well, aren’t you the one sitting in the passenger seat?” the woman pointed out.<br/>
<br/>
And then the realization hit him. Harry was indeed tied down by the constricting seat belt on the left-hand side and someone else was driving the Mercedes. He reached for the driver, trying to get his attention. The person turned his head towards the Gryffindor. He looked exactly like Harry himself. But then an inexplicable change happened. The emerald green eyes turned bright yellow and his lips stretched out in a hideous carnivorous grin full of sharp teeth. An animal sort of growl escaped creature’s throat as it lunged itself on Harry.<br/>
<br/>
“What?… What is it?! Help! Help me!” Harry screamed trying to get away from his beastly doppelganger.<br/>
<br/>
“Quick! Push it out of the car!” Elise instructed from the back seat…<br/>
<br/>
<b>… He stopped. The person in front of him whimpered unintelligibly… He was about to attack the hapless man, but there was something that stopped him...</b><br/>
<br/>
...“I… can’t! Can’t… it’s going to hurt me!” the brunette felt sharp claws on his skin and the saliva dripping from the beast’s snarling mouth.<br/>
<br/>
“You are the Savior… Order of Merlin First Class and all that rubbish,” she snickered unashamedly, not even trying to give him a hand.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh piss off!” Harry shouted and kicked the creature in its stomach.<br/>
<br/>
He managed to get it away from himself and pry the driver’s side door open. The doppelganger was now half-way out of the car…<br/>
<br/>
<b>...Something that felt like a small bird trapped in the cage and was trying its damnedest to get out and end this mad desire to tear and bite and shred everything around him.<br/>
<br/>
Something made him aware of his surroundings: he looked at his fingers, broken fingernails with dried blood under them, sweater covered in dark-brown crust, worn-out jeans, muggle trainers, his cracked spectacles in one of the pockets. He was human, he was an eighteen-year-old lad… He was Harry. Harry Potter.</b><br/>
<br/>
“Kevin…” he exhaled, looking at the terrified man in front of him. “Are you alright?… I must have scared you… what the hell happened?”</p>
<p><br/>
</p>
<p><br/>
<br/>
* * * </p>
<p>The door with two serpents was half-open, and there was nobody in the hallway, not even a house-elf to greet him. Draco lifted his wand and the wards let him in easily. The orphanage looked deserted. The walls once covered with colorful posters, children’s drawings, and dozens of smiling photographs were now empty, showing only the yellowing wallpaper. The doors to various rooms and chambers were shut and there were no signs on them like before. The shoe-rack which usually was overflowing with Wellies and odd slippers was completely barren. Even the umbrella stand had only one clear plastic muggle brolly in it.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Homenum revelio!</em>” the Slytherin cast and saw a slight blue light lingering at the end of the hall.<br/>
<br/>
Draco mowed towards it, holding his breath in anticipation of some inevitable danger coming from that part of the building. The spell was shining the strongest at the entrance to the headmistress office. And the knot in his stomach twisted even harder as he realized that the woman must have done something to Harry and probably Millie and Martha as well.<br/>
<br/>
He was about to go inside the room that was glistening with a spell when he felt the whoosh of the wind from the open front door and someone was standing behind him. Draco turned around sharply and saw a disheveled female Auror. She was breathing heavily, her impeccable ponytail a mess, and her crimson uniform unbuttoned.<br/>
<br/>
“Halt! DMLE! Don’t you dare move, Malfoy!” the girl gritted, firmly holding a wand and pointing it right at his heart.<br/>
<br/>
“Aren’t you a bit zealous?” Draco exhaled lifting his hands to show that he was indeed unarmed. “The Aurors are forbidden to use lethal force at the apprehension… don’t forget that…”<br/>
<br/>
He realized that he probably needed to deescalate the situation, however, his bloody mouth just wasn’t listening. Something was amusing in the way that female Auror was terrified of a big bad Death Eater who was just barely of age.<br/>
<br/>
“What are you doing here… Are you involved in Potter’s kidnapping?!” Amanda demanded in her annoyingly high-pitched voice.<br/>
<br/>
“Potter was kidnapped?… Now that’s news to me.” he lifted an eyebrow, his mind started going a mile a minute at that very moment.<br/>
<br/>
<em>So he didn’t come here on his own? He was abducted? How did that happen?</em><br/>
<br/>
The Gryffindor had surveillance on him all the time after the incident at the greenhouses. How could the ministry fail that miserably? Now Draco just needed to get to that room before the girl did, to see if Harry was okay. He could feel the iron scent of blood in the air and prayed to all the gods in his mind that Millie was still there and looking after him.<br/>
<br/>
“Listen, you will not get away with it. So just give up,” she reminded him, “I’m arresting you!”<br/>
<br/>
“You may do that,” the blonde replied calmly, “Or you may actually want to see what is in this room.”<br/>
<br/>
With these words, he pressed the door handle to the Matron’s office and then almost vomited from the sight. Millie did not lie… there was just so much blood. It felt like it coated every surface, even the curtains were covered in dark-red spatter. There were pieces of mahogany chair and desk scattered around the floor and papers, parchments, books, photographs in shattered frames littering the room.<br/>
<br/>
“What… Expecto… “ the stupid bint wanted to call for backup but Draco disarmed her before she could finish the incantation.<br/>
<br/>
“Stop that, you fool! Can’t you see there is a chance that you lot might harm him…” he hissed through his clenched teeth.<br/>
<br/>
It was very difficult for him to keep his mind from going blank and spiraling down into another panic attack as the disgusting surroundings reminded him of Aunt Bella’s dearest pal Greyback and his style of a crime scene. The girl was silent even though she followed him to the chamber.<br/>
<br/>
“Millie?! Martha?! You there?!” the Slytherin shouted, he looked around the room, dreading to find a corpse or two.<br/>
<br/>
“In here!” he heard a female voice from another door, it probably led to the private quarters.<br/>
<br/>
His classmate was smart enough not to stay in the office all things considered.<br/>
<br/>
“Is Harry with you?! Is he okay?!” Draco cried again, not willing to lead the Auror to some sort of dangerous trap.<br/>
<br/>
“Physically – yeah! Mentally… I dunno. Get in here, will ya!” Millicent sounded annoyed.<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t go in there, Malfoy!” the girl whispered urgently. “There might be an inferius!”<br/>
<br/>
He turned his glare towards the Auror, she looked utterly terrified of the scene in front of her and he started to wonder whether it was a good career choice for her after all.<br/>
<br/>
“I will give you your wand back if you promise not to call… or kill anyone. Remember I am a Legillimens I will know if you try,” the blonde suggested and Amanda reluctantly nodded.<br/>
<br/>
He tossed her the wand and walked in.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Potego Maxima</em>!” Draco bellowed when a ball of fire almost hit him in the face.<br/>
<br/>
There were no signs of the Bulstrode sisters. He wondered whether they were in the orphanage at all or was he so easily duped and lead into an obvious trap. His heart sank when he saw Harry propped on the armchair like a lifeless rag doll, his skin was pale, and his clothes were spattered with blood. A bird-like creature was standing over him, her wings stretching almost as wide as the room itself.<br/>
<br/>
“Auntie?! Stop this, please!” the Slytherin pleaded. “Let him go!”<br/>
<br/>
“Kill the girl,” the veela replied calmly, “And Potter shall live.” She was looking intently at Draco, her black beady eyes demanding surrender to her will.<br/>
<br/>
He heard this order in his head, a thousand voices whispering it to him, but somehow he could easily ignore them once he looked at Harry’s unconscious body behind the creature. There was nobody more important for him right now and that realization made him feel sober and more determined to stop this madness. The blonde glanced towards the Auror. Amanda was staring at the creature as though hypnotized, her eyes glassy and lifeless. She was probably affected by her magic.<br/>
<br/>
“Kill her!” the Auntie hissed.<br/>
<br/>
“And what makes you think I would do that?” Draco huffed and moved closer towards the matron.<br/>
<br/>
“Very well! I can take care of that myself!” the veela cackled and then the Auror lifter her hands towards her own neck and started strangling herself.<br/>
<br/>
“Hey! Stop that, you idiot! Don’t listen to her!” Draco tried to pry her fingers away but the girl couldn’t hear his voice, she was trying her best to finish herself off.<br/>
<br/>
“What are you going to do now, you brat!” the Matron spat and hauled some more fiery spheres towards them.<br/>
<br/>
The furniture and wallpaper around them started to catch fire, the exquisite varnish began to crack and lavishly decorated tapestries were turning into scorched rags. Draco couldn’t think he could almost hear the roar of fiendfyre in his ears as he succumbed to panic. The girl fell to the floor and was gasping for air, her face was turning blue and her eyes bulged out almost comically. It was quite difficult to try to cast the Shield Charms and prevent the Auror from harming herself.<br/>
<br/>
If only there was a way to make her stop. To somehow get this fixation out of her head…<br/>
<br/>
A mad idea struck him as he dodged another flaming attack. He took a steadying breath, trying to calm his nerves and then muttered the spell to dive inside Amanda’s mind.<br/>
<br/>
… there is a child’s bedroom and a little girl is hiding under the bed… someone’s large hand roughly drags her from her hideout… the girl sobs uncontrollably as an ugly muggle lifts his hand with a belt in it ready for a strike… Draco reaches for the limb, grabs the weapon, and wrestles it away from the tyrant… the girl is looking at him gratefully with her two large red-rimmed eyes…<br/>
<br/>
The room unraveled back into the reality, it was so hot around, the flame was slowly getting closer and the veela was still standing over them like some sort of avenging angel of death. Amanda stopped struggling and was desperately gulping smoke-filled air, she wasn’t staring at the creature anymore. The spell was broken.<br/>
<br/>
“Malfoy! We need to get away from here!” she croaked, her wand was already casting a Patronus charm to call the reinforcements.<br/>
<br/>
“No! She has him! We can’t go without him!” Draco protested.<br/>
<br/>
“We wait for back up!” she insisted as another portion of fire rained down on them.<br/>
<br/>
“NO!”<br/>
<br/>
He could see Harry’s lifeless face illuminated by the embers and remembered how that brave idiot came back for him in the Room of the Requirement.<br/>
<br/>
“You have no power over me, you hag! <em>Crucio</em>!” His knuckles turned white from the sheer grip on his wand as he cast the spell on the veela.<br/>
<br/>
Auntie let out a shriek and folded her enormous wings, she fell to the floor and started writhing in pain. Her bird-like appearance was quickly fading away into human features as the curse was making her body suffer through excruciating pain.<br/>
<br/>
“Stop it at once!” the female Auror yelled and Draco lowered his wand reluctantly. “How dare you… Blatantly using an unforgivable in the presence of the law enforcement!”<br/>
<br/>
“You have a dangerous magical creature that just attacked a person that you were supposed to protect! And started a goddamn fire!” the blonde snapped back, “I think you have much more important things to attend to!”<br/>
<br/>
He didn’t care one goddamn bit if there was a whole squad of DMLE waiting to arrest him. There was a small chance that the Orphanage’s wayward magic wards were strong enough not to give away his transgression. In any way, he really hoped that him saving the bint’s life would count for something. She cast a full body bind on the veela and moved towards Potter to check on him.<br/>
<br/>
“He’s alive,” Amanda announced and grinned at him tiredly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The black liquid from the paper cup tasted vile but there wasn’t anything else he could drink so that would have to do. The waiting room bench was hard and uncomfortable as was the glare of the fluorescent lights and the annoying electric hum of the vending machine. That contraption had spat out that nonsense some might call coffee into Draco’s cup a few minutes before.<br/>
<br/>
“They put him on the IV-drip for a bit,” the Auror said when she came back from the nurse’s station.<br/>
<br/>
“Can I see him?” Draco asked immediately.<br/>
<br/>
“Not yet, but I think a little disillusionment charm might work when the nurses won’t be looking,” she added sympathetically.<br/>
<br/>
He did not know what to make out of her. That Auror was so painfully by the book one minute and then helped him avoid being taken into custody another. From that little information that he discovered about her when he dove into her mind, he could tell she was a muggle-born.<br/>
<br/>
“You seem to know your way around a muggle hospital,” the blonde looked at her curiously. “Are you even an Auror?”<br/>
<br/>
“I am… Well, sort of… I am undercover.” she admitted.<br/>
<br/>
“That might explain why I am not in Azkaban yet and Potter’s not back at Saint Mungo’s,” Draco chuckled lightly and ran his hands through his hair. “So what are you? MACUSA? M16? Interpol? ”<br/>
<br/>
“CIA,” Amanda provided.<br/>
<br/>
He studied her expression to find some hint of a joke but the girl was dead serious.<br/>
<br/>
“And you’re telling me all this, because?” Draco lifted an eyebrow.<br/>
<br/>
“We want to recruit you,” she said. “You are a skillful wizard and you clearly have some talent for Legillimency. We need people like you on the field.”<br/>
<br/>
He scoffed at the offer. Nobody wanted anyone like him. He was marked, a junkie, and probably completely fucked in the head. It was a miracle that he hadn’t offed himself yet.<br/>
<br/>
“How come a complete amateur like you works for the muggle intelligence agency,” the Slytherin asked eventually.<br/>
<br/>
“Well,” she grinned apologetically, “It is a muggle agency. And sometimes being mediocre is important for blending in. Robards would not let me be all up in his business with the Death Eaters if I were exceptional.”<br/>
<br/>
“So, you were up in my business since January because you wanted to recruit me?”<br/>
<br/>
“That Entrails Expelling curse was excellent,” Amanda gave him a crooked smile. “I know it is sudden, but given your… erm, circumstances, you sort of have a few choices left. For what it’s worth, we will grant you and your mother a safe passage out of the country and all the paperwork and a new identity. All you need is to say yes.”<br/>
<br/>
“What about him?”<br/>
<br/>
Draco looked towards the corridor of the ICU where they had taken Harry. He did not trust the muggle medical system, but he knew that the law enforcement would be all over them if they went somewhere else, so he had no choice but to have faith that those muggle doctors would help him. Her gaze followed the people in scrubs and then she signaled to Draco that the coast was clear. He quickly enveloped them both in a spell and they moved soundlessly into the hospital room.<br/>
<br/>
Potter seemed peaceful albeit a bit pale and exhausted. Some machines were beeping a steady heart rhythm and there were tubes attached to him. A cold shiver ran down Draco’s back when he realized that Harry could have murdered someone in that orphanage. He looked completely ordinary and vulnerable and human at that moment.<br/>
<br/>
“I’m afraid Mister Potter doesn’t need to know about any of this. And especially about that poor Healer.” the girl said gravely.<br/>
<br/>
“Did he… did he kill that man?” the Slytherin asked carefully.<br/>
<br/>
“He was still alive when I found him in that cupboard… so I cannot tell for sure,” the Auror replied.<br/>
<br/>
“I can’t accept your offer! Yaxley is still at large and with me gone he would go straight for Harry,” Draco shook his head.<br/>
<br/>
“Well, I am sure there is something we can do about that. Here… we’ll probably be waiting a while, ” Amanda patted him on the shoulder and offered an unhealthy looking chocolate bar to the blonde.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Grand Theft Auto</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Someone cast a spell and an uncomfortable shiver went down his spine forcing him to wake up.<br/>
<br/>
“I need to go soon,” Amanda said quietly giving him a little pat on the shoulder. “Are you going to be fine here until noon? I will come back with some brunch if you want to.”<br/>
<br/>
“Er… I guess,” the blonde murmured, his neck gave a painful crack when he tried to stretch a bit.<br/>
<br/>
“The DLME still has Mr. Potter’s wand, I’ll try to get it back,” the Auror promised and with that, she disappeared behind the opaque glass door.<br/>
<br/>
Draco was sick and tired of this room and this smell of muggle chemicals and this constant beeping of the machines. His eyes felt like there was sand in them, even though he had downed at least five of those disgusting coffees and had cast a few Eneverates on himself.<br/>
<br/>
Amanda on the other hand had been merrily chatting away all through their night vigil at Harry’s bedside. She had even confessed that Elise’s untimely death was the reason she infiltrated the DMLE in the first place. Apparently, they were partners and not strictly in the work-related fashion. Draco realized at that moment why she was affected by the veela’s call. He started wondering what it would be like if he and Harry were working together, would he be able to protect him as much as Amanda tried with the Baelish girl, or would their relationship be in the way of him thinking clearly and making the right decisions.<br/>
<br/>
A cold gray morning came suddenly when he opened his eyes for the second time. Draco realized that he had fallen asleep in an uncomfortable position on the little stool next to Harry’s bed in the Intensive Care Unit. There was another bag of translucent liquid slowly dripping away into the Gryffindor’s vein. The nurse must have come during the night. It was a miracle that she hadn’t kicked him out yet. Maybe, the disillusionment charm was still working.<br/>
<br/>
He heard the footsteps in the corridor and recast the spell just in case before an old man in the short white robe accompanied by the two nurses burst into the room, looking all business.<br/>
<br/>
“Is this the patient?” he asked, flipping through the array of papers on the clipboard.<br/>
<br/>
“Yes sir, we got him in the I and E yesterday afternoon and then transferred him to the ICU as soon as we could.” one of the nurses spoke rapidly, pointing to the chart. “There is a problematic wound on the right shoulder area, it seemed that some sort of homemade remedies were used to treat it. However, the lab work results have been even more alarming. We are thinking it was a drug overdose… Most likely amphetamines. We did the infection panel, HIV, Hepatitis, and Syphilis, all came out negative.”<br/>
<br/>
The Slytherin let out a sigh of relief, at least St. Mungo’s Healers made sure that the Savior of the Wizarding World did not contract any muggle deceases from the scum that was Greyback. And there was something else that he heard that made him hope that Harry wasn’t infected with lycanthropy. The drugs. Muggles thought it was some kind of overdose, which meant that whatever happened to that hapless Healer wasn’t because of the full moon but rather because Potter was fed some kind of potion and then attacked him under the influence.<br/>
<br/>
“Very well,”  the doctor nodded. “Did you remove the damaged tissue?”<br/>
<br/>
“Yes, we started all the necessary IV drips as well.” another nurse confirmed.<br/>
<br/>
“The authorities wanted to speak to him as soon as he wakes up. Please make sure nobody comes into the unit,” the man said and left.<br/>
<br/>
Panic swelled in Draco’s throat at those words. ‘The authorities’ could mean anything from just muggle cops to the DMLE. If those who wanted to talk to Harry were wizards they would definitely find out that a fugitive former Death Eater was in the room as well. He needed to know who wanted to see Potter before they both ended up in custody.<br/>
<br/>
He got up and followed that doctor further into the ICU. There were other patients connected to the various machines like Harry, most of them were luckily unconscious. The blonde waited until the nurses went away to do their duties and the old man was alone, checking on another comatose person. He crept behind him and spoke the incantation as quietly as possible.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Legillimens!</em>”<br/>
<br/>
… a familiar sterile corridor with uncomfortable benches is filled with people… middle-aged women in colorful scrubs... a flock of distracted looking youths with notebooks in their hands and fear in their eyes… old women are complaining to the nurses about the waiting time… further into the corridor… some silhouettes caught his attention…  two men in crimson jackets stand out from the crowd of patients and medical staff… they approach the old man who is sipping the same vile coffee from the paper cup…<br/>
<br/>
Draco staggered away, emerging from the doctor’s memories. He almost hit some equipment behind him.<br/>
<br/>
<em>Bloody Aurors…</em><br/>
<br/>
He ran back to Potter’s room, not even caring about making too much noise or recasting the disillusionment charm.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry,” the blonde whispered harshly to the unconscious lad in front of him, “Wake up.”<br/>
<br/>
He shook him a little but to no avail. There must have been some sort of medicine that kept him sedated in those translucent bags. He wondered if it was too early to remove all those needles from the other boy’s arm. Muggle remedies worked slower than magical potions and he could do some harm to the poor sod if he tried to stop the drip.<br/>
<br/>
“Potter, listen to me, the Aurors are waiting to arrest us both out there, so we need to get out of here before they do!” Draco gritted right by his ear and shook him again.<br/>
<br/>
It was probably the worst idea in the world to cast any spells on the injured person, but there was no time to spare.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Eneverate</em>,” the Slytherin muttered, trying his best for the charm to work as gently as possible.<br/>
<br/>
Harry’s eyelids fluttered and then his face grimaced in pain as he slowly came back to consciousness.<br/>
<br/>
“Mmmm… what?… What happened?… Draco?… Is that you?” the brunette murmured, looking around the hospital room with his unfocused bloodshot eyes.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry…” the blonde replied, “There is no time to explain, we need to go!”<br/>
<br/>
“But… Why?” Potter protested.<br/>
<br/>
“The Aurors,” Draco said urgently. “They will be there to arrest us soon!”<br/>
<br/>
He glanced towards the glass door behind him and cursed himself for not putting any wards just in case. Draco had already done enough magic around muggles to file a few dozen Statute of Secrecy violations if he had been caught, the fact that he was around another wizard without a trace had probably helped those spells to be unnoticed.<br/>
<br/>
“Us?” Harry glanced at him incredulously, he didn’t look at all surprised to see all those muggle machines attached to him, probably because he knew what the hospital looked like before, “You’re the one they want… so you should go… I will stay, I wanted to talk to Kingsley and explain to him that it was all my fault and that you are innocent anyway.”<br/>
<br/>
“You must have forgotten what happened at St. Mungo’s then,” the blonde huffed irritably at this display of foolish selflessness. “You were trespassing, escaped the arrest, and then…”<br/>
<br/>
<em>...Got kidnapped, drugged and attacked the Healer...</em><br/>
<br/>
He couldn’t say it out loud, not when Harry had already thought that everything was his fault. If he had known about the incident at St. Barbara’s he would blame himself for the rest of his life, and that wasn’t what Draco wanted for him. He refused to see Harry as some sort of monster that could kill or severely injure another person with his bare hands. He understood what self-loathing did to people, he had done a big share of it himself.<br/>
<br/>
“Oh,” the Gryffindor’s expression darkened as he realized what happened, “Then you should definitely go… you can’t stay around me!”<br/>
<br/>
“Shut up! You bloody martyr!” Draco snapped at him. “We’re escaping together… and I will knock you out again if I need to if you refuse to cooperate!”<br/>
<br/>
Harry chuckled a bit and tried sitting up but he had little strength left in him. He let out a defeated breath and settled back onto the pillow.<br/>
<br/>
“Merlin’s bollocks, it’s hard…” he croaked, “Why am I in the muggle hospital anyway?”<br/>
<br/>
“Haven’t I told you, there’s no time for explanations!” Draco replied almost desperately. “We need to go, now!”<br/>
<br/>
“Alright, just help me out, will you?” Harry asked petulantly and winced when the blonde pulled the needle out of his arm in one swift motion.<br/>
<br/>
The beeping machines were the trickiest part since neither of them knew how to turn them off without alerting half of the hospital.<br/>
<br/>
“Try… try the freezing spell…” Harry suggested. “It seemed to work on those muggle radio alarm clocks before.”<br/>
<br/>
The blonde used the charm and miraculously the equipment froze and stopped beeping. It bought them some time to unhook all the wires from the Gryffindor. Harry sat on the edge of his bed, leaning heavily on Draco’s arm for support and breathing unevenly.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry, I know it’s hard but you need to move…” the blonde pleaded. He looked around to see if anyone noticed that the devices weren’t working.<br/>
<br/>
“I’m trying … I can’t… There’s usually those wheelchairs for patients… I saw them on muggle TV... go look for one…” the other boy explained.<br/>
<br/>
“Potter, I am a bloody wizard, for Salazar’s sake,” Draco rolled his eyes. “<em>Mobilicorpus!</em>”<br/><br/>
The brunette let out a surprised yelp when his body lifted itself from the bed easily and was suspended in midair in front of the Slytherin.<br/>
<br/>
“I am not some puppet! And I need some clothes! ” the boy complained, trying to cover himself with the hospital gown.<br/>
<br/>
“Let’s get going, I will transfigure you something once we’re in the car!” Draco barked and went out of the hospital room with Harry floating behind him.<br/>
<br/>
They successfully got to the end of the corridor when they heard some commotion stir in the ICU. One of the nurses must have noticed that a sedated patient went missing and warned the rest. Someone's fast approaching footsteps echoed behind them and then there were a couple of angry people in scrubs pursuing them.<br/>
<br/>
“Stop! Where are you taking the patient?!” somebody shouted and Draco realized that his disillusionment charm must have worn off.<br/>
<br/>
“This is some ridiculous deja vu!” Harry commented sarcastically as he and the blonde descended the fire emergency stairs quickly, the brunette bumping his head and limbs into walls on the turns.<br/>
<br/>
They got to the entrance and ran towards the parking lot. A few muggles were looking at them curiously so Draco canceled the levitating spell and wrapped one arm around Harry’s waist, supporting his heavy limp body as they managed to hide behind the parked ambulance. He could see the nurses searching the area and he pressed himself closer to the cold side of the vehicle and held his breath, hoping that their odd couple would be unnoticed.<br/>
<br/>
“What should we do?” Harry’s whisper tickled his ear.<br/>
<br/>
“Not get caught, preferably…” the blonde gritted. “We need to get to my car but I cannot risk using noticeable spells in front of so many muggles.”<br/>
<br/>
“How about this car then?” the Gryffindor gave him a mischievous grin and patted the metal door of the ambulance.<br/>
<br/>
“Are you out of your mind? Stealing a fucking muggle vehicle?!” Draco hissed incredulously.<br/>
<br/>
“Come on, they will find us sooner or later,” Potter reasoned.<br/>
<br/>
“Fine!” he snapped back.<br/>
<br/>
The blonde cast a quick unlocking spell and half-dragged the ridiculous lad onto the passenger side. It was quite a task since the seats were higher than in a normal sedan. Once Potter was successfully inside, Draco hopped behind the steering wheel. Another spell and the muggle engine came to life, the blinkers and the ambulance siren turned on as well. The blonde pulled out of the parking space grazing the neighboring cars in the process. He had never driven the vehicle that was that big and bulky.<br/>
<br/>
A man was running towards them, cursing under his breath, his bright yellow jacket half on, and coffee spilling everywhere from his cup. It was probably the real driver. Draco hastily pressed the gas pedal and drove off, amazed at the way the traffic let them pass through once that annoying noise was heard.<br/>
<br/>
“Now we’re majorly fucked if we get caught, Potter, thanks to you!” Draco shouted over the blaring sound as he steered furiously onto the bigger motorway and away from that wretched muggle hospital.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Stealing the ambulance? Why not?! :) <br/>The next chapters will be a bit more lengthy since it is the conclusion, I will try to finish them as soon as possible.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Always on the Run</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Well, what can I say? It has been a while. I really did not want to abandon this fic and I have been writing bits and pieces of the ending here and there. But they refused to combine into a cohesive story. That's why it took me a couple of months to finally update. </p><p>I will make sure to finish it.  I can't give up on my boys and there are a few characters that hopefully reappear in the Sequel I am planning.</p><p>TW for a suicide attempt and  a bit of smut ;)<br/>A little update in this chapter from Harry's POV</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>July, 1999. Port St. Lucie, Florida</p><p> </p><p>	The sun was slowly settling down over the seashore and the sky was suddenly painted in brilliant shades of pink and orange. Wayward seagulls were quarreling somewhere in the distance. The waves were leisurely rolling onto the abandoned beach and ebbing away just barely touching his bare feet.<br/>
<br/>
Draco was blissfully high. He stretched out his arms, feeling the wind rippling on the thin fabric of his standard-issue cotton long-sleeve shirt. His vision was a bit blurry from the drugs but he was still lucid enough to enjoy this sunset. He didn’t have the slightest idea what he had taken or how much of it for that matter, but somehow he wanted more. Needed more. The abyss before him did not look frightening, it was inviting. The sound of the ocean was beckoning him, lulling his sense of self-preservation and whispering a false promise that as soon as he stepped forward everything would be over… His pain, his complete lack of control, his nightmarish past, and even more sinister future would all disappear beneath the water surface.<br/>
<br/>
The smell of sea-salt and the strong iodine scent of seaweed hit his nostrils and a strong shiver ripped through his body. Draco realized that he was already up to his waist in the water, his clothes were floating around him like dead jellyfish. He gave out a desperate sort of laugh and looked back towards the shore. The beach was completely empty. Nobody would be able to save him if he moved forward.<br/>
<br/>
Draco’s mind wandered to his poor mother, how devastated she would be to see him gone. He didn’t want to die, but that was sort of inevitable, he was too drugged to care, the tide was pulling him further away from the beach and he wasn’t a very skilled swimmer.<br/>
<br/>
He was submerged to his chin. There was sea-salt on his lips and his eyes started to water from irritation. He took a deep breath and tried lying down, that way he wouldn’t drown. The water flowed into his ears and suddenly the world became muffled. His body was weightless on the surface of the ocean. He felt like a piece of driftwood slowly mowing with the tide. Draco closed his eyes and felt the tears slowly trickling down his cheeks, drops of salty water in the ocean of salt.<br/>
<br/>
He imagined his face once more. It looked blurry and grainy like the photograph from a newspaper clipping. His messy nest of dark hair, his ridiculous round spectacles, and his sheepish grin. He remembered how he didn’t buy any of it.<br/>
<br/>
Draco wondered if he died at that moment, would Harry come for him, shake him back to reality and convince him in the no-nonsense voice that he was indeed alive. He didn’t want to speculate and hope and dream about him anymore, he wanted to greet the darkness and to disappear into the nothingness of the ocean.<br/>
<br/>
… Somebody was splashing in the water next to him, somebody’s hands were painfully gripping his unresponsive limbs and dragging him out of the water. Somebody’s lips were on his, warm and human, breathing life into his shivering body.<br/>
<br/>
“You are mental, Malfoy,” he heard and for a moment he thought it was Harry himself looking at him with an exasperated expression on his face. “Come on, let’s go before the nurses kick us both out.”<br/>
<br/>
The dark-haired lad wasn’t Potter... </p><p>***</p><p>March 1999, England<br/>
<br/>
He felt a sharp pull of the seat-belt on his chest and midriff as the moving car came to a sudden halt. His head hit something soft and big and inflated as he heard the windshield crack dangerously. He gingerly tried moving his arms, pushing away the annoying airbag, and looked towards the driver’s seat. The other person was alive but there was blood on his hiking jacket.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry…” the lad at the steering wheel asked in a strained voice. “Are you alright?”<br/>
<br/>
The Gryffindor glanced around in a haze. They crashed into something on the stolen ambulance.<br/>
<br/>
“Draco?” Harry replied and fumbled with the safety belt, trying to free himself. “What?… What happened?”<br/>
<br/>
The blonde was staring at his palms smeared with crimson, slightly confused. A trickle of blood was running down his cheek from a shallow cut on his forehead.<br/>
<br/>
“I must have fallen asleep at the wheel…” he concluded. “I was trying to get away from London as soon as possible… Where are we?”<br/>
<br/>
Harry looked out of the window. It was still light enough to be afternoon. They must have driven off the main road and into some bushes and trees until a large rock made the ambulance finally stop.<br/>
<br/>
“No clue. Let’s get out of here… I think you’re bleeding,” the brunette suggested and rummaged for his wand.<br/>
<br/>
There wasn’t any. And then he remembered that he was still wearing his hospital gown and not much else and they escaped from being apprehended by the DMLE earlier that very morning.<br/>
<br/>
“Here…” Draco said and passed him the hawthorn wand.<br/>
<br/>
Harry's palm felt warm as familiar magic rushed through his body. He cast a few healing charms on the blonde and received a grateful smile in return.<br/>
<br/>
They crawled out of the wrecked vehicle. Luckily the annoying siren wasn’t wailing anymore, but colorful blinkers were still shining every which way. Draco was rummaging in the back of the car and then he emerged triumphant, holding some medical supplies and a spare uniform for Harry to change into.<br/>
<br/>
“Well,” the Gryffindor exhaled after his shoulder was carefully wrapped in fresh dressing, “What are we going to do next?”<br/>
<br/>
“I dunno,” Draco grumbled, he was going through the medical satchel and examining one orange bottle of pills after another, obviously looking for a fix.<br/>
<br/>
“What are you trying to find there?” Harry asked carefully. “I don’t think getting high on muggle drugs is such a great idea right now.”<br/>
<br/>
The blonde gave him a nasty glare but then he shook his head resignedly and threw the bag back into the ambulance. Harry was alarmed to see that, even in this dire situation, Draco was trying to satisfy his addiction. He understood that he would need to have a serious talk about such behavior in the future but they had more pressing matters at hand.<br/>
<br/>
“I guess you’re right,” Malfoy exhaled and lit a menthol cigarette in his teeth.<br/>
<br/>
It wasn’t the regular kind that he smoked, it didn’t come from the muggle pack he usually carried. He pulled one out of a fancy engraved case with an ornate dragon on the top, encrusted with precious stones.<br/>
<br/>
“This is my when-shit-goes-tits-up cigarette stash,” he explained when he noticed Harry staring.<br/>
<br/>
“Can I take a look?” the brunette asked quietly.<br/>
<br/>
He tried not to seem too suspicious about what Draco had been smoking. But then he remembered about not hiding away his potions before and just wanted to make sure.<br/>
<br/>
“Knock yourself out, Potter. They’re only fags if that makes you happier,” the Slytherin said bitterly and tossed the case to him.<br/>
<br/>
The moment Harry caught it in his hand, the skin on his palm started burning as though someone had pressed hot iron into it. He dropped it immediately and hid his reddening fingers away from the blonde.<br/>
<br/>
“You alright?” Draco looked at him curiously, picking up the object.<br/>
<br/>
“Yeah, just… er… pulled my injured shoulder a bit too quick,” he lied and touched his burn gingerly.<br/>
<br/>
The case must have been out of sterling silver. Harry’s heart sank at the realization of what it meant.<br/>
<br/>
***<br/>
<br/>
“Why did you run… you two dimwits!” somebody hissed behind him and Draco froze with his fly still undone in the middle of relieving himself into the muggle urinal.<br/>
<br/>
It was a random service station somewhere on the outskirts of London, where they had finally managed to have some rest. After desperately trying to shake off the relentless muggle police for Merlin knows how long and abandoning the ambulance somewhere in the field. They had to hitchhike to this somewhat safe location afterward.<br/>
<br/>
He slowly turned around to see Amanda standing there, in the men’s lavatory, a sour expression on her face.<br/>
<br/>
“Where’s Potter?” she asked immediately.<br/>
<br/>
“He’s in the canteen…” Draco replied, crossing his arms defensively.<br/>
<br/>
His mind drifted to the Gryffindor who was slumped in a narrow booth away from curious truckers, nursing his dreadful mug of coffee and picking at his roast beef sandwich without any interest. Draco was able to find enough wound dressing inside the ambulance to safely re-wrap Harry’s shoulder. What bothered him though was the fact that the other lad was still wearing a bright yellow uniform jacket and green trousers over his hospital gown and probably looked absolutely ridiculous to anyone who managed to see through Draco’s glamour spells.<br/>
<br/>
“You have made so much fuss in the hospital! Stealing an ambulance?!” Amanda huffed in exasperation and blocked his way out of the filthy loo when the Slytherin tried to shove past her. “Where do you think you’re going?!”<br/>
<br/>
“What do you want?! Are you planning to finally arrest me?” Draco gritted.<br/>
<br/>
“The Aurors weren’t there after you,” she said seriously. “But I think you’ve realized that already. The Healer, that Mr. Potter attacked, died in St. Mungo’s last night. His wounds were infected…”<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t say it,” the lad choked out.<br/>
<br/>
It wasn’t as though Draco didn’t suspect it. There was a full moon recently and Harry showed a surprising amount of strength for someone who had been lying unconscious in the muggle ICU a few hours prior. But someone else acknowledging it was unbearable.<br/>
<br/>
“I… will try my best to cover it up,” she said almost comfortingly. “The last thing magical community in England needs is for their beloved hero to become a murderer with a questionable lycanthropy status”.<br/>
<br/>
“And what do you want from me?” Draco demanded.<br/>
<br/>
“You, love, will have to come with me,” the agent continued. “Yaxley is still at large and we need to lure him out… There is a way for me to make all of your and Mr. Potter’s problems go away, but I need your full cooperation.”<br/>
<br/>
“And what if I refuse?!” the blonde asked petulantly.<br/>
<br/>
“It's either us or Azkaban, Malfoy,” Amanda reasoned. “Furthermore, I can keep the information about Mr. Potter classified for only so long. I hate to say it, but we have way too much leverage on you… You can run, of course, but you can’t hide. Not from the Agency at least…”<br/>
<br/>
Those last words sounded like a death sentence. And Draco suspected that he had little room for negotiations at this point.<br/>
<br/>
“I want my mother to be safe as well. And I need some time… to… to say goodbye,” he admitted.<br/>
<br/>
“You have 24 hours, Malfoy,” Amanda warned him and then threw something towards him. “I will find you. And if you a smart lad you will not tell about any of this to Mr. Potter.”<br/>
<br/>
Draco caught an object in his hand and was mesmerized to see that those were the keys to his good old Mercedes.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
***<br/>
<br/>
“Are you doing this on purpose?” Draco scoffed. He looked at the unlit building with chipped plaster and muggle graffiti sprayed on every surface one could reach. The bright red lettering on the top said “Astoria”.<br/>
<br/>
“It is the cinema my father and Sirius visited when they were young, I always wanted to come here,” Harry said with a sad smile.<br/>
<br/>
“It looks abandoned,” the blonde commented.<br/>
<br/>
He drove around a bit, trying to find an inconspicuous parking spot so that the Mercedes wouldn’t get too much attention.<br/>
<br/>
“Even better, nobody will try looking for us here,” there was that mischievous glint in Potter’s eyes that would have sorted him right into Slytherin.<br/>
<br/>
They sneaked into the building with no trouble. It looked as though it had been closed off just yesterday. Tacky film posters with exaggerated facial expressions were plastered here and there on the walls and leaflets with the theater plays’ programs littered the floor. The pop-corn machine still smelled of butter and caramel, and a few forgotten coats were still hanging on the hooks in the changing room.<br/>
<br/>
Draco had heard about muggle cinemas from Pansy, but he had never been to one. And although he enjoyed a record or two of muggle jazz or swing. The pure-blood wizards preferred watching the plays and listening to the classical music to such plebeian entertainment as films.<br/>
<br/>
“Do you reckon there are any films left?” Harry asked and climbed the rickety stairs to the projector room.<br/>
<br/>
“Even if there were any… do you know how to use that thing?!” Draco called after him.<br/>
<br/>
He couldn’t believe this ridiculous git. He was in the muggle hospital on the brink of turning into a vegetable one moment, then avoiding the Aurors, crawling out of wrecked vehicles, and skipping around like nothing had happened in another.<br/>
<br/>
It is either us or the Azkaban, Malfoy…<br/>
<br/>
Amanda’s words emerged in his mind as a bitter reminder that it was not forever. Eventually, they would need to come back and face the reality of the situation.<br/>
<br/>
“You’re right,” a bespectacled head appeared in the rectangular window and Harry went back into the audience. “So what are we going to do then? We can’t watch a film.”<br/>
<br/>
The Slytherin looked at that kicked puppy expression on Harry’s face and couldn’t help but smile. There were so many things about this Savior that were extremely childish, but endearing. Draco knew Potter didn’t have much of a childhood, living with that muggle excuse of a family, so he was relieved to see that immature side to him.<br/>
<br/>
“Well, I have an idea,” the blonde mused. “But you might not like it, given your… er, terrible experiences…”<br/>
<br/>
He needed that little reminder that the lad in front of him was still human. That he was just another wizard barely of age. The same as Draco. Somehow looking into his mind could have been a way to know for sure that Potter was just Potter. Ridiculous bespectacled righteous hero and not some sort of dark creature Amanda had implied him to be.<br/>
<br/>
The blonde sat on one of the dusty velvet chairs in the audience and patted another for Harry to join him.<br/>
<br/>
“What do you have in mind?” the Gryffindor asked cautiously.<br/>
<br/>
“I can use er… legillimency to show you a memory… it can be like a film of some sort… or see if you remember anything nice, then we can watch it together,” Draco mumbled, embarrassed for some inconceivable reason.<br/>
<br/>
“Can you do it, really?” there was only sheer curiosity in Harry’s eyes and the Slytherin became more relaxed around him.<br/>
<br/>
“I reckon I can give it a go,” the blonde replied.<br/>
<br/>
“Alright, just you know… don’t dig up something er… bad, I have had enough nightmares for two lifetimes already,” Potter warned him.<br/>
<br/>
“Sure,” Draco exhaled.<br/>
<br/>
They settled against each other, with Harry’s head in Draco’s lap and their fingers firmly laced. The blonde removed the other boy’s spectacles and gazed into those amazing emerald green eyes. He was staring at them so closely he was able to see the little specks of black and brown in the irises.<br/>
<br/>
“I’ll try showing you my memory first,” he whispered and concentrated on summoning the images in his mind.<br/>
<br/>
He could hear that distant melody he had always imagined when he needed to dissociate. He followed the sound and soon there was no cinema around them, only silent pleasant darkness…<br/>
<br/>
… there are walls of magical fabric… taxidermy birds are hopping on the elaborated hats and embroidered animals are moving around woven backgrounds, silk and organza are sparkling in the half-lit room. He can see the reflection of somebody in the giant floor-length mirror… a small skinny boy with clothes three times bigger than his slender frame and a mop of unruly black hair…<br/>
<br/>
“This is the day we first met,” Harry whispered with a smile, “You were the first wizard my age I saw.”<br/>
<br/>
“I wish I weren’t such an insufferable tosser back then,” Draco murmured back. His fingers left Harry’s grip and were running through his dark locks.<br/>
<br/>
“Well, you got there… better late than never,” he chuckled. “Can you see mine?”<br/>
<br/>
“I’ll try… Can you hear it?… That sound… let it guide you… it helps me,” the Slytherin instructed, the faint melody appeared out of nowhere, a light touch to the piano keys, and the music became alive, rushing like blood in his veins and hypnotizing him. He heard a deep inhale from Harry as he dove into his mind effortlessly.<br/>
<br/>
… a snowy bird is hooting in the brand new cage… a huge burly man with black tangled beard and dark glinting eyes gives him a wide smile holding two outrageously big cones with ice-cream… a giant motorbike is racing across the sky… the large man is holding something in his arms… a baby in the cocoon of blankets… a flash of green light and a woman’s scream…<br/>
<br/>
Draco pulled away immediately, panting and looking at Harry’s face, terrified.<br/>
<br/>
“I am sorry… I didn’t mean to… Was that the night… when…”<br/>
<br/>
The Gryffindor nodded, not able to respond with words. His eyes were glistening with tears.<br/>
<br/>
“Let me show you something pleasant…” the blonde said hastily, trying to concentrate once again.<br/>
<br/>
A tight grip of Potter’s hand on his wrist stopped him from proceeding. He looked shattered by this experience, and Draco wished he hadn’t foolishly suggested to look into his mind.<br/>
<br/>
“There was a connection… between me and Tom Riddle. He would get into my dreams and I could feel his emotions. I don’t think I can handle any more reminders of that,” the dark-haired boy confessed.<br/>
<br/>
“I am sorry… I didn’t know,” Draco replied lamely. Once again he fucked up something that was supposed to make them closer to each other. “Aunt Bella… she told me he could torture people with legillimency, so she taught me how to protect my mind… that was the most horrible experience in my life. I learned pretty quickly that to withstand all those things that were happening in my house I needed to imagine that I wasn’t there, that it was happening to someone else…”<br/>
<br/>
He shut his eyes tightly fighting with disturbing images that flooded his brain. He remembered the time the Dark Lord lived in the Manor.<br/>
<br/>
Suddenly, Harry’s arms wrapped around his neck and his warm body was in Draco’s lap. He reached towards the other boy like in a dream, moving his hands over his ribs and back, losing himself in the taste of his lips, trying to stay in that moment of feeling something other than complete despair.<br/>
<br/>
“It’s okay…” Harry whispered, “Don’t think about it anymore. Just let go.”<br/>
<br/>
And then they were kissing again, hungrily and urgently trying to drown their sorrows and forget about the cruelty that they both endured.<br/>
<br/>
“We shouldn’t…” the blonde said reluctantly when he felt Harry’s hardness pressed firmly into his crotch, demanding attention. “You were badly injured. And besides...”<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t care… Draco, please… touch me,” the Gryffindor murmured, taking off that ridiculous ambulance jacket. “Make me feel something…”<br/>
<br/>
He didn’t expect Potter to be so needy at that moment. That couldn’t have been just because he was horny. Somehow he must have discovered what he and Amanda were talking about. The unsettling thought that Harry knew everything and was just going along with it anyway was gnawing at the back of his mind as he faced him. There was a row of neatly tied muggle sutures, closing the ghastly wound completely and making it look as nonthreatening as any other scar on Harry’s body. It was as though the werewolf hadn’t attacked him, but he merely fell off a broom playing Quidditch. Draco’s mouth was on the boy’s naked chest as soon as he saw all that bare skin before him, teasing and biting and making him let out uncontrollable quiet moans.<br/>
<br/>
He didn’t want to obsess over this injury anymore, he didn’t want to think about the fact that he had no choice but to leave him for good. The only thing he wanted was to touch him more. His hands moved lower to pull down the zipper on his trousers and caress his erect cock. Harry hissed at the sensation of the icy fingers touching him there, but then he guided Draco’s hand further behind to show him what exactly he wanted.<br/>
<br/>
“Hang on… You don't want us to do it the muggle way, do you?” the blonde smirked as he rummaged for his wand.<br/>
<br/>
The only thing he learned from his abysmal wizarding sexual education that he was grateful for were all those handy protective spells. They would make it all way easier even if one was about to shag in an abandoned cinema and not in the comfort of one’s bed. He cast all the necessary incantations and then he pressed his slick fingers into Harry, stretching him gently, making him groan and squirm even more.<br/>
<br/>
“Just hurry already…” the Gryffindor spoke breathlessly, pulling up Draco’s jumper and unzipping his jeans.<br/>
<br/>
The Slytherin stopped touching him to take off the synthetic muggle garment and slid lower on his seat to position his desperately hard cock between Harry’s legs.<br/>
<br/>
“You’re going to have to help yourself then,” he explained to the impatient boy on top of him, and then he couldn’t utter anything coherent anymore, because Harry was holding his erection firmly in his grip and guiding it inside him little by little. He closed his eyes and bit his lips in concentration, his body shivering from this sudden intrusion.<br/>
<br/>
The Prophet and all the magical rags in the world would trip over each other just to get the image of the Savior of the Wizarding World writhing in the ex-Death Eater’s lap, but it was the sight only Draco got to experience. He felt Harry’s fingers digging into his shoulders as he grasped for leverage and started to move, his head falling backward and exposing the delectable skin of his throat. He could hear his hopeless pants as they picked up the pace. His hands were holding the brunette's hips in a deadly grip, urging him to keep going. The ungodly rhythm of their bodies was trapping and completely entrancing Draco as the rush of endorphins was pleasantly overwhelming his brain.<br/>
<br/>
This time Harry came first, letting out one more strangled cry and squeezing his muscles almost painfully. He was gasping something incomprehensible, his arms clinging to Draco’s neck as the blonde thrust into him a couple more times before losing himself in his own pleasure.<br/>
<br/>
He wanted to say it to him. He wanted to be pathetic and confess that he indeed was completely and hopelessly in love with Harry Potter, but something was stopping him. And he knew that it was his guilt and the realization that soon he would need to be cruel to him once again. So Draco said nothing, he just kissed the spent boy who slumped over him, sweat cooling off on his pale skin, and hoped that somehow Potter already knew what it meant.</p><p><br/>
***<br/>
 </p><p>	He opened his eyes to realize that they had spent the night in that abandoned theater. Draco had transfigured some blankets, and they were huddled against each other on the enlarged cinema seats. The blonde’s long limbs were wrapped around Harry and his hot breath on his neck was reminding him of their previous shenanigans and making little prickles of desire spread all over his body. Before he would never have guessed that a posh and cold pureblood was so demanding for human touch.<br/>
<br/>
The brunette wriggled around in his tight embrace so they were nose to nose. From up close he could see his fair, almost translucent eyelashes, just barely visible traces of blonde stubble on his jaw and tiny specks of freckles on his nose and cheeks, so unlike a Malfoy persona the boy always aspired to possess. His thin lips were quivering in the sleep and his eyebrows furrowed as though he was dreaming of something unpleasant. He once again marveled at how inexplicably beautiful Draco was. In those stolen washed-out muggle jeans and a cheap polyester sweater, with his fringe falling in his eyes, he looked so human, so approachable, so tender almost. It made Harry’s heartbeat treacherously fast.<br/>
<br/>
“I… love you,” he whispered, knowing damn well that the other lad wouldn’t be able to hear it.<br/>
<br/>
The blonde exhaled deeply in his sleep and wrinkled his nose as though to respond:<br/>
<br/>
“What an unbearable sap you are, Potter”</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>July 1999. Port St. Lucie, Florida<br/>
<br/>
It was one in the afternoon when an unbearable heatwave hit Southern Florida. The room he currently occupied was too humid and too stuffy to stay in, but he refused to leave the bed, his body weakened by the lack of anything somewhat stimulating. He felt the sweat beads slowly rolling down his forehead and soaking his short blonde hair. He hated the lengths and the way it was cut. But like everything else that was done to him in the High Aspirations Reform and Wellness Center he had no control over it. The tiny town, where it was located was just a few hours away from bustling Miami Beach with all its luxurious resorts and celebrity villas. In spite of the name, he felt neither reformed nor well in any way.<br/>
<br/>
The door that he wasn’t allowed to lock creaked open and someone stepped into the room, making too much noise and huffing exasperatedly.<br/>
<br/>
“Hey, are you alive over there?” he could hear that unmistakable Southern drawl and opened his eyes reluctantly. “Can’t you at least turn on the AC, since you’re staying ‘ere all day?”<br/>
<br/>
He sighed and rolled to another side to face his annoying roommate a 20-something Christian rock star that turned out a cocaine addict. And, judging by his obnoxious mannerisms and interested looks he had been giving him, a flaming poof.<br/>
<br/>
“It’s lunch! If I were you, sugar, I would be eatin’…” the roommate advised, giving him a once over.<br/>
<br/>
He probably looked like utter shite, he realized that, but he couldn’t be bothered to remain presentable for anyone in the facility, let alone for this nosey ponce that shared the room with him. He wished he had his wand back so he could at least entertain himself by firing a couple of spells at the muggle.<br/>
<br/>
“What do you want?” he demanded, giving the rock-star an annoyed glare.<br/>
<br/>
“They’re serving that puddin’ you like,” the lad announced, “Are you still mopin’ about the nurse catchin’ you with a cigarette… well, it was entirely your fault, now wasn’t it?”<br/>
<br/>
“It was you who ratted me out,” he replied and stuck his nose into the pillow too tired to be arguing with the twat.<br/>
<br/>
“Because you refused to share… and besides smokin’ is a sin,” the roommate announce proudly. “Hey, Jacob? Maybe you’ll brighten up if you have that puddin’ though…”<br/>
<br/>
“It’s Draco. How many times do I have to say it… D-R-A-C-O!” he gritted dangerously and the room suddenly became as cold as the inside of a muggle fridge.<br/>
<br/>
“And Draco was his name-o!” the infuriating muggle replied in the sing-song voice, not bothered by that sudden outburst of magic whatsoever. “You sure have a funny name, sugar-pie, I can’t help it…”<br/>
<br/>
Draco sighed wearily and sat up. It was no use arguing with Isaiah Abraham, a stage name, that was even more ridiculous than any of the wizarding names he had ever heard. He wanted to throttle the git but before that, he needed to take his portion of dessert just to spite him.<br/>
<br/>
The cafeteria was already filled with other occupants of The Reform and Wellness center, most of them washed out celebrities or children of wealthy parents, and almost all of them painfully muggle. Isaiah was already chattering away with another bloke at their table that Draco forgot the name of. It was difficult to pay attention to people that he knew he would forget as soon as he got out of there. He had a nice suntan that at least didn’t look fake and messy dark hair that eerily reminded him of Porter.<br/>
<br/>
“Hey, Draco,” the lad called him over, “your sister came over this morning, I think she had left you a package at the nurse’s station.”<br/>
<br/>
“Who came?” the blonde asked confused.<br/>
<br/>
“Amanda… Isn’t she your sister? You look similar,” he explained.<br/>
<br/>
Right… He needed to remember those things, it had been almost three months since he was put into this rehab as a part of his CIA deal with Amanda. And now the bint was the only person from the outside world that was allowed to visit him. In the way, he was grateful that his mother wasn’t able to see his sorry state. He could only send her letters via muggle postal service and it took forever to get a reply. Cicero, his eagle owl, was still at the girl’s apartment in Washington, DC.<br/>
<br/>
“Thanks… er…”<br/>
<br/>
“TJ,” the lad gave him a toothy grin and a wink that made Isaiah glare at them both.<br/>
<br/>
“Thank you, TJ” Draco mumbled, distracted, and went towards the nurse’s post.<br/>
<br/>
Unsurprisingly, his roommate followed him.<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t tell me that you and TJ…” he was babbling something that was making the Slytherin even more irritated.<br/>
<br/>
“Merlin, no…” he laughed bitterly.<br/>
<br/>
There was no way that he would be able to think about anyone in that way except for Harry. He closed his eyes for a moment to keep the nauseating memories at bay. The contents of the parcel had only made matters worse when he realized that there were a couple of Daily Prophet’s clippings inside.<br/>
The titles were as outrageous as ever, but they painfully reminded him of the events that had led to him escaping to the States and leaving everything and everyone behind.<br/>
<br/>
“MALFOY JR’S UNTIMELY DEATH: ACCIDENT OR SUICIDE?”<br/>
<br/>
“POTTER SEEN AT MALFOY’S MUGGLE FUNERAL”<br/>
<br/>
“POTTER AND MALFOY LOVERS! LOVE POTION OR BLACKMAIL”<br/>
<br/>
“BOY-WHO-LIVED REFUSES TO DISCLOSE LYCANTHROPY STATUS”<br/>
<br/>
“That Potter guy… Is he your ex or something?” his roommate asked carefully, peeking at the newspapers in his hands.<br/>
<br/>
“Shut up,” he snapped dangerously, his fingers shaking and his mind spiraling out of control.<br/>
<br/>
It was all out. Their tentative relationship was twisted around and dissected in one salacious article after another. Rumors mixed around with the truth and printed for all of the wizarding England to gawk and gossip about.<br/>
<br/>
“Come on, hon, you can tell me…” the rock-star said soothingly, gently putting his hand on Draco’s shoulder.<br/>
<br/>
“I’d rather be alone…” the blonde reply numbly.<br/>
<br/>
He went past the cafeteria, not even bothering with the pudding anymore, and towards his favorite hidden bench in the garden. At that moment Draco just wanted to bribe that tanned bloke, TJ, once again to get some of his pills, that he had been secretly dealing. And plunge into the long-awaited oblivion instead of experiencing this dull ache in his chest that made him think of the way they had parted. How cowardly he had been in the end, how he couldn’t tell Harry any of it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Veritas Odium Parit</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It might be annoying for some readers but I really needed these last three chapters to have non-linear narrative. It is crucial to the story so I added time and place markers to understand the sequence of events easily. It makes sense for me to write like that because I feel like nobody would be able to wait until the end if the events were put in the chronological order :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>April 1999, Scotland</b><br/>
<br/>
<b>… can’t you feel it… the way his blood is singing to you in his veins… the way his skin is begging to be torn apart and his flesh devoured… you want to, don’t you?</b></p><p> The creature grinned to him, lips stretching almost comically, saliva dripping from its mouth. There was a dangerous glint in its emerald green eyes. They were wild and glossy behind the cracked lenses. The creature looked exactly like Harry himself. It had his spectacles, his bloodied clothes from that horrible day at the Orphanage, his unruly mop of hair. And yet he knew that it couldn’t have been him. Harry was there, strapped to the passenger seat, unable to loosen his restraints as it, another Harry, bloodthirsty but yet not a monster, hovered over Draco’s body.</p><p> He wasn’t breathing. His skin looked almost gray in contrast to his brightly colored polyester jumper. His neck was bent unnaturally, it seemed grotesquely comical. His platinum blonde hair had a streak of crimson in it. It was splayed wildly over his forehead covering a deep wound. That was the way they found him, slumped over the steering wheel, wand broken and a thin strip of blood at his mouth. That what Harry had seen on the still muggle photos the police had provided.<br/>
<br/>
The Mercedes wheeled off the road and into the concrete barrier. They said the death wasn’t instant… He suffered a severe concussion and his lungs were crushed by his broken ribs. And he had spent agonizing minutes delirious, helplessly gasping for air before suffocating.</p><p> Harry woke up with a sharp cry. He sat up in his bed in the Gryffindor dormitory. His pajamas were sticking to his back uncomfortably and his chest was rising and falling, going through a mechanical motion of trying to breathe. He couldn’t feel air coming into his lungs. Harry was still completely entranced by the horrific nightmare. It looked so real as though he was there, in that car, at that moment…</p><p> His eyes darted wildly over the burgundy and gold upholstery, comforting and familiar. The smell of lavender on his bedsheets, the crackle of the burning wood from the furnace, and light snoring coming from Ron’s bed were meant to lull him back to sleep. And yet he couldn’t even close his eyes. In the morning he had to attend the funeral, Draco’s funeral.</p><p> </p><p>***<br/>
</p><p><b>July 1999 Port St. Lucie, Florida</b><br/>
<br/>
The room looked as though an erumpent ran through it when he came back from breakfast. Two nurses were going through all of his belongings, emptying the drawers full of his nick-knacks unceremoniously onto the bed, pulling off the bedding, and ripping into the pillowcases. One of them took him by the arm and half-dragged him into the small bathroom attached to the room.</p><p> “Here!” she said, handing him a plastic container, “We need your urine sample, Mr. Malfoy.”</p><p> Draco gave her a disdainful glance and took the cup. It was always so humiliating to have to go in front of somebody for these muggle drug tests. They clearly did not trust any of their patients enough to let them even piss into the container in private.</p><p> “If there are any traces of substances present you will receive a warning and some of your privileges will be revoked,” the nurse explained monotonously, making sure that Draco wasn’t doing anything suspicious. “Is it clear, Mr. Malfoy?”</p><p> The blonde nodded and passed her the sample. He knew damn well that they would find something. Those pills, that TJ had given him, were definitely drugs. Draco took a whole handful of them last night. He did not expect to be alive the next day and be back at the Rehabilitation center to suffer the consequences.</p><p> He stood there and watched disinterestedly as his sparse personal items were thoroughly searched and some of them were confiscated. He was glad that he had managed to hide a newspaper clipping of him and Harry standing in the garden at St. Barbara’s smiling to each other over some private joke. It was taken on that Halloween, the night when Draco stole a kiss from Potter.</p><p> “Oh Lawdy, now that’s good mornin’ to ya,” Isaiah drawled when he saw their room. “Did you do somethin’ bad, Jacob?”</p><p> “It’s Draco…” the Slytherin muttered.</p><p> “Mr. Abraham, do you mind waiting outside until we finish?” the nurse gave him a warm smile.</p><p> “No problem, sugar,” the singer beamed at her but gave Draco a worried look.</p><p> </p><p>***<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>March 1999, St Bartholomew's Hospital, London</b>
</p><p> </p><p>“Here… Just a stiff like you’d asked. John Doe, in his early twenties, Caucasian, fair hair. Cause of death – a drug overdose,’’ the man in navy-blue scrubs and a big plastic apron gestured towards one of the heavy doors that were mounted into the walls.</p><p> He opened it and pulled out the metal drawer, presenting its contents to the two visitors. They were both blonde, almost like brother and sister, but their faces couldn’t be less similar. A woman looked healthy with plump cheeks and rosy complexion; and a young man was sickly, his sharp features accentuating the lack of rest on his face.</p><p> It was very cold inside the dungeon-like hospital morgue and eerily quiet. A muggle screen was working in the distance, flashing the images without any sound. An empty paper cup was propped up on one of the slabs and colorful chocolate wrappers were littering the working desk.</p><p> “So?” the coroner asked, “Want to take a peek?”</p><p> The woman nodded and gave a lad next to her a sympathetic glance, “Come on, Malfoy. It’s not like you haven’t seen a dead body before!”</p><p> Draco gingerly looked inside of a half-opened body bag and saw a familiar face of Vernon Duddley staring at him with vacant dead eyes through half-opened eyelids.</p><p> <i>Poor sod</i>, he mused. <i>That muggle went and got himself killed somehow. Very conveniently for their little charade.</i></p><p> “I put him under a Stasis charm to prevent further decay,” the pathologist bragged, zipping the bag back up.</p><p> “Thank you, Bob.” Amanda said curtly, and pulled a thick wad of muggle cash out of her crimson robes, “You take pounds, I assume.”</p><p> “Oh… you shouldn’t have,” the man said but pocketed the money anyways. “You said the stiff needs to be mauled a bit… What sort of trauma are we talking about?”</p><p> The agent gave Draco a once over and shortly concluded: “A traffic collision… and… I would really appreciate it if he was the one driving.” She gestured towards the dead muggle.</p><p> “Creating an inferius is a criminal offense, miss!” the man objected looking at her wearily.</p><p> Amanda took out another stack of one hundred pound notes, thicker this time, and presented to the pathologist.</p><p> “I wouldn’t be asking if there was any other way, Bob,” she explained, waving the money in front of him expectantly. “I don’t think St. Bartholomew's is paying you well enough.”</p><p> The man looked offended. He wheeled the metal shelf with a body bag back inside the cold storage, closed the heavy door, and crossed his arms in front of his chest.</p><p> “No, miss, not for the bloody DMLE,” he spat. “You know how many raids there were since the war ended? Four! Four this year! And this new minister was supposed to be a bit more lenient for our lot!”</p><p>
  <i> Our lot.</i>
</p><p> Draco wondered who was he referring to when he said that. From the first glance, the coroner looked completely ordinary, clad in muggle scrubs and layers of plastic. A shudder passed through him as he looked down at the tiled floor. There were only two shadows – one belonged to him and another to Amanda.</p><p> “A vampire?” Draco asked quietly. “You trust a vampire in this situation?!”</p><p> “He found your doppelganger alright, didn’t he?” the girl shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.</p><p> “He’d probably killed him as well…” the lad muttered, he wanted to see that body again, to check for any signs of bite marks.</p><p> Somehow a death of a random muggle was weighing too much on his conscience. And he couldn’t believe how cold-blooded and matter-of-fact Amanda had been about finding a body to fake his death and stage a funeral. Like it was just a mundane part of her job. There was a stark difference between the role of a hot-headed rookie Auror she had been playing all this time in front of Robards and the DMLE and a cool and collected CIA agent she was.</p><p> “That was a bit rude, young man,” Bob disagreed. “I don’t drink from junkies. Your blood is usually… unpalatable.”</p><p> “You have done favors for Miss Yaxley before, haven’t you?” Amanda continued. “She asked you to provide bodies on numerous occasions.”</p><p> “Corpses, yes,” the man interjected, “Not conducting Necromancy in the middle of the central London!”</p><p> The girl exhaled tiredly and gestured for Draco to leave the mortuary.</p><p> “Well, I guess we will have tea with those sweets by ourselves then…” she added on her way out.</p><p> “What sweets?” the vampire asked quickly.</p><p> She showed him a big box of luxurious chocolate truffles wrapped in a golden ribbon. The pathologist paused for a moment, eyeing the confectioneries greedily.</p><p> “Shall we go?” Draco suggested lightly, not wanting to stay inside that gaunt and sterile room longer than necessary.</p><p> “Alright, alright!” Bob exclaimed, “Let me put on a kettle and we’ll discuss it!”</p><p> </p><p>***<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>July 1999, Port St Lucie, Florida</b>
</p><p> </p><p>“It was you, wasn’t it?!”</p><p> The game of battleship had ended abruptly when Draco stormed into the lounge area and dragged his poor roommate up by the collar of his standard-issued polo shirt. The older lady Isaiah had been playing with gave out a scandalized yelp and hurried away from the room.</p><p> “You reported me to the nurses…” the blonde growled, “Again!”</p><p> “LET ME GO!” Isaiah squealed in fear as the rage that was bubbling inside Draco was making the lights in the room flicker.</p><p> The blonde let out a shaky breath, trying to quell the magic inside him that was threatening to make something explode or worse someone. There was no way he would be able to concentrate enough to perform wandless legillimency, but he could scare the wanker enough for him to never go snitching.</p><p> Aunt Bella always rambled on how curious the human brain was. That if you were made to think you were in pain, you would feel it, even when there was no physical harm being done. That was how her favorite Unforgivable curse worked. And that was how the Dark Lord used to torture his victims. He didn’t even use his wand to do it. All that he needed was one very persuasive thought.</p><p> A horrible shriek made Draco snap out of the haze, and he realized that his annoying roommate was curled up on the floor rug, clutching at his stomach as his body convulsed in pain. He did it. Draco was the one who made him suffer.</p><p> “Are you going to tell on me again?” he asked through clenched teeth looking at the muggle.</p><p> “Stop it! Whatever you’re doing… please, I am begging you… stop! Stop it!”</p><p> “Are you going to snitch on me and steal my things again?” Draco persisted and Isaiah stared writhing in agony.</p><p> “Please…” his face looked ugly, tears in his eyes and snot and drool coming out of his nose and mouth.</p><p> “Are you going to babble on and on and never let me sleep in peace?”<br/>
No coherent words were coming from the singer anymore, only labored gasps and sobs.</p><p> “Protego Maxima!” someone shouted the incantation and he stopped writhing on the floor and begging for mercy.</p><p> The blonde looked sharply towards the intruder. It was the suntanned drug dealer that was pointing his wand at him without any consideration for muggles being around.</p><p> “He’s just a no-mage, calm down, will ya?!” TJ huffed. “How’s about you take a seat right there and let me deal with Isaiah, alright?”</p><p> He pointed with his wand towards one of the worn-out armchairs and Draco obediently dragged himself to sit. He was too stunned to comprehend what had just happened and was a bit glad that someone was telling him what to do.</p><p> “Is… is he okay?” the Slytherin asked meekly. He had never lost control like that, he must have been going mad in that Wellness and Reform Center.</p><p> “Nothing a memory charm can’t fix,” TJ gave him a sympathetic grin and helped his confused roommate to stand up.</p><p> “What? What are you doin’ here, sweet peach?” Isaiah grinned as nothing had happened.</p><p> “Oh... just came back for my sudoku magazine,” the tanned lad told him, “Don’t you have to be in a group therapy?”<br/>
<br/>
“Yeah, thanks, sweety,” Isaiah said and hurried away.</p><p> Draco was holding his head in his hands and shaking a little, the adrenaline rush was wearing off and the only thing he felt was utter despair. There was another wizard in the middle of muggle Florida, and that didn’t mean anything good for him. He might be some goon sent by Merlin-knows-who to spy after him.</p><p> “Wayward magic, huh? What are you, five, Malfoy?! Pull your shit together, man!” TJ scolded him.<br/>
<br/>
He sat down in another armchair across from him, wand still pointing at Draco.</p><p> “Who are you? Who sent you?” the blonde demanded, finally finding his composure.</p><p> “Nobody you need to be worried about… for now,” TJ shrugged his shoulders.</p><p> He rummaged through his trouser pockets and pulled out a baggy filled with a couple of familiar pills.</p><p> “Want some, don’t you?” he waved it in front of Draco like bait on the hook for a hungry fish.</p><p> The Slytherin nodded. Under better circumstances, he might have felt ashamed about his eagerness to get another fix, but his outburst earlier had shown him just how unstable he could be without getting high.</p><p> “Well, there is one condition,” the drug dealer pointed out. “You need to come back.”</p><p> “What do you mean?” Draco demanded.</p><p> “To England… This place is clearly not helping you. And I have seen that muggle relations chick posing as your sister, I don’t think it is going to work out,” TJ finally lowered his wand.<br/>
<br/>
Come back?! After all the bridges he had burned, all the lies he had told to weasel away from Yaxley and the DMLE. And Harry… Would Draco even be able to look him in the eye after making him believe he was dead?</p><p> “I can’t… I’m sort of dead to them,” he mumbled lamely.</p><p> “That’s not a problem. My boss pays well and he doesn’t mind his legillimens being dead… Just as long as he gets the job done. And I bet you want to see that lover-boy of yours… Potter, right?”</p><p> All this sounded too good to be true, but Draco couldn’t say he wasn’t intrigued. He also knew that that shrewd bitch Amanda would hunt him till the end of the world for her beloved muggle agency. But the moment he heard Harry’s name, he couldn’t help but feel just the tiniest bit of hope swelling in his chest and making his heart pick up a pace.</p><p> “Who’s your boss?” he asked at last.</p><p> “Now we’re talking,” TJ smiled.</p><p> </p><p>***<br/>
<br/>
</p><p><b>March 1999, Brighton</b><br/>
<br/>
A lonely seagull made a line in the air, not even fluttering its wings, catching the wind on its feathers, and soaring across the gray sky effortlessly. The sun was slowly emerging on the horizon, lighting the heavy clouds and murky water. There were a few visitors on the Brighton beach this early in the morning. An old lady was walking her poodle and some jogger was stretching before a refreshing run. They did not expect to see a vintage Mercedes-Benz roll onto the wooden pier.<br/>
<br/>
The passenger door opened and a dark-haired lad exited a vehicle. He propped himself onto the bonnet and stretched his legs leisurely. Next to him, a blonde youth was standing, a lit cigarette in his hands and a pensive expression on his face.<br/>
<br/>
“It’s quite nice to be here… without anybody around,” Harry said and gave Draco a worried smile.<br/>
<br/>
Something was bothering the blonde, but he couldn’t understand what was it. Ever since they woke up in that abandoned cinema, his mind was elsewhere. Malfoy was driving a bit more recklessly than usual, taking unnecessary swerves and not even bothering with casting any spells to keep them from being seen by muggles. And even now he was restless and fidgety, his movements sharp and nervous and his posture slouched and closed off.<br/>
<br/>
<i>He couldn’t have known, could he?</i><br/>
<br/>
Harry was afraid that all his efforts to conceal his inevitable changes from the werewolf bite were in vain, that somehow Draco managed to see the truth in his mind the night before.<br/>
<br/>
Nobody knew why but being mauled by the werewolf so close to the full moon didn’t just mean preferring bloody steaks. The Healer had explained to him about those victims of Greyback and his pack during the Battle of Hogwarts. After a few months more and more of them developed typical symptoms associated with lycanthropy. Until one girl, a fourteen-year-old Ravenclaw unexpectedly turned and tore her muggle family to shreds over the Christmas break.<br/>
<br/>
“Harry…” the Slytherin exhaled a puff of smoke, “I think you need to go back to Hogwarts.”<br/>
<br/>
“What?!” Harry was gobsmacked. “Why? And what about you? Or are you telling me that the whole Auror Office will not be looking for you if I am not around?!”<br/>
<br/>
“They’re not looking for me though…” the blonde looked at him intently. He gently took Harry’s hand, turning it so that he could see the fresh burn mark on his palm in the shape of that ornate silver dragon.<br/>
<br/>
“I know what it means. The next full moon is a couple of weeks away and when you transf…”<br/>
<br/>
“I won’t! There have been three months without me turning! It won’t happen, Draco!” Harry lied.<br/>
<br/>
He had a year maybe more before that little bit of venom inside his bloodstream would provoke a real transformation. There was always a chance that some new potion would be developed in the future, that might slow the process down or even cure the impending lycanthropy. But it could be too late for Harry. He could start turning into a beast that savaged Draco’s cousin.<br/>
<br/>
“Have you thought about what would happen if you do? Sometime later?… You won’t be able to control yourself. What if you accidentally maul someone?!” Draco knew, all of it. “Or worse... what if they try to capture you, hunt you like some sort of animal?! Put you on one of their bloody registers? You… ”<br/>
<br/>
“Draco… it won’t happen,” the Gryffindor assured him.<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t… just don’t lie to me, Potter!”<br/>
<br/>
“I’m not!”<br/>
<br/>
“But you are… you are lying! I can tell!”<br/>
<br/>
And then Harry felt it, a slight prickle of legillimency. As if a little bird was pecking inside his skull, pulling out strings of thoughts one by one, like worms from under the tree bark.<br/>
<br/>
“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” he bellowed. “You have no right… to rummage through my thoughts just like that!”<br/>
<br/>
An old lady that had been walking her fluffy dog was now standing not far from them and watching their argument curiously. She finally cleared her throat audibly and made the blonde look in her direction.<br/>
<br/>
“Fine!” Malfoy snapped. “ Do as you wish, Potter. But I contacted Granger and she is here to pick you up, so explain all of that to her. I do not wish to remain next to a delusional prick who is a danger to himself and others for that matter!”<br/>
<br/>
The Gryffindor wanted to say something back, to put enough venom in his insult to hurt him just as much. But he knew that was the plain and simple truth. The truth that he desperately was trying to conceal, to run away from.<br/>
<br/>
“Come on, Harry. It’s time to go,” the grandma called out to him and he realized that it was Hermione cleverly disguised under the Polyjuice potion.<br/>
<br/>
Draco stepped away, squashing his cigarette bud with too much force, and got inside the Mercedes.<br/>
<br/>
“So what?! You’re just going to leave like that?!” Harry called out to him when he heard the car door slam shut and the engine start.<br/>
<br/>
The Slytherin would most likely be captured by the DMLE, he would be arrested and tried for something. They will find a way to fabricate enough evidence to make him go to Azkaban just for the hell of it. And Harry would not be able to protect him anymore, because all of his efforts to make sure that Draco was safe and out of prison were destroyed by that one lie.<br/>
<br/>
“I am.” the blonde replied warily, “I wish you all the best, Potter.”<br/>
<br/>
Harry watched as the car disappeared in the distance and he couldn’t stop tears from spilling down his cheeks.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>It is almost over I hope you stay until the end</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It used to be a mature fic but after one of my friends read it they suggested to put explicit on it, so therefore a rating change.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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